Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 24, 1994 TAG: 9403240280
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By MELANIE S. HATTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Brudascu's work is passionate and refreshing. His use of light and dark brings his subjects alive, from flowers to faces and bodies that glow against a dark background. Some of his work is for sale at Gallery 3 on the Roanoke City Market, with prices ranging from $2,500 to $5,500.
The son of a merchant, Brudascu has been painting since the age of 12. He studied at the Ion Andreescu Academy of Fine Arts in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Today at 57, his oil paintings have been displayed all over the world, including Italy, France and the former Soviet Union. He has an exhibit in Holland, and he headed there from Roanoke this week.
His stay in this country has been sponsored by his friend Vasile Gocan, a Roanoke businessman who escaped from the formerly communist country in 1985. The artist told Gocan before coming here: ``I would like so much to see and to understand what America is all about.''
After Brudascu arrived, he said: ``Finally, I understand this country. Now, finally, I understand why the artists paint the way they paint.''
American art reflects a strong sense of freedom and space, Brudascu said, using Gocan as an interpreter.
He came to this country at the end of February and described his visit as an ``extraordinary event'' in his life. Gocan has taken him to New York and to Washington, D.C., to promote his work. It was truly a dream come true, Brudascu said.
During the reign of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, Brudascu was part of a government-run artists' union that supplied work for the communist hierarchy. Brudascu's artwork was used by government officials as gifts for higher-ranking officers, but Brudascu was never paid for the work. He painted in hiding to get money for food and more art materials. His work, including portraits of the Romanian dictator, are considered national treasures and cannot be taken out of the country.
Brudascu also was invited by the government of Jordan to paint portraits of King Hussein and his family. He spent seven months in that country and produced 40 works but, again, was never paid. The government told him it didn't have enough money to pay him because of the war.
``If you don't have political power,'' Gocan said, ``... to put pressure on whoever is responsible for that, it will never happen.''
Gocan, who was working installing telephones for the Romanian minister of communications, met the artist in 1984. His parents knew Brudascu and asked Gocan if he could cut through the red tape to install a phone in the artist's home. Gocan obliged and was able to get Brudascu's phone line installed in a year. By contrast, it took 15 years to install the complete telephone system in Romania, he said.
The two men became friends, and Gocan fell in love with Brudascu's work.
In 1985, Gocan took an opportunity to escape from Romania. He left his wife and son - and his friend - behind and lived in Yugoslavia for nine months before coming to Roanoke. Two years after the 1989 revolution in which Ceausescu was overthrown, Gocan returned to Romania and offered to help Brudascu visit this country.
Gocan said: ``He told me when we went to New York, `If someone had told me 10 years ago that I will be here and stand here in this country and be walking in New York, I would never believe it.' ''
The crowning moment was seeing ``the great works of the masters'' exhibited in the Metropolitan Museum. And he was thrilled to see a display by contemporary Romanian sculptor Constantin Brincusi at the Phillips Gallery in Washington.
Gocan is acting as Brudascu's manager and promoter, something Brudascu has never had before. He has learned that American artists have managers and advocates to promote their work, and realizes he has much to do to catch up.
Brudascu told Gocan he can't wait to return to Romania where ``I am going to start working hard ... to let the world see what I can do,'' Gocan said.
``He hopes he will come to create new work to set him in the history of art [and] put him in a place where he can be recognized.''
by CNB