Cornel Medrea Museum

• situated 16, Gen. Budisteanu street
• the building was built at the end of the 19th century, in Neoclassical style
• it was the residence of the regent Gheorghe Buzdugan, the President of the Court of Cassation
• the building consists of ground floor and semi-basement and a yard used as a place for exhibition
• the collection of the museum includes besides rich documentary data about the life and work of Cornel Medrea, 350 pieces of his work, sculptures and graphic arts
• beside Medrea's pieces of work such as "Sarutul" (The Kiss), "Infinitul" (The Infinite), "Ghimpele" (The Thorn) and the series of portraits of writers and artists, one can admire the work "Dragos Voda si Zimbrul", that brought Cornel Medrea the high prize at the International Exhibition from Paris, in 1937

Cornel Medrea (his real name Corneliu Virgiliu Medrea):

• was born on the 8th of March 1888 in the commune Miercurea, Sibiu county
• he attended the courses of the Art Decorative School in Budapest
• professor of sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts from Bucharest ( then at "Nicolae Grigorescu" Institute), between 1939-1964
• he dealt with all styles in sculpture
• he realized the busts of: Cosbuc (Sibiu, 1914), Victor Hugo, Aristide Demetriade as Hamlet (National Theatre from Bucharest, 1919), Delavrancea (Kiseleff Road, Bucharest, 1920), Avram Iancu (1927), Andrei Muresanu (Bistrita, 1932), George Enescu (Giurgiu, 1938), Gheorghe Lazar (Avrig, 1938), Ovidiu (Kiseleff Road, 1917) etc.; 1907 Monument at Buzau, and together with Ion Jalea, The Monument of the Railwaymen (Bucharest,1923) and the bas-relief of the Mausoleum from Marasesti (1930)
• Cornel Medrea was awarded the Honorary Diploma at the International Exhibition from Barcelona, 1929; the High Prize at the International Exhibition in Paris, 1937; the International Prize at the Exhibition in New York, 1939; The National Prize for sculpture, 1945; the State Prize, 1956, and the title of the Artist of the People (1957)
• Medrea's last work of art was accomplished in 1964
• he passed away on the 22nd of July 1964