The present Doodle, represented by Bucharest-based guest artist Irina Selaru, celebrates multidisciplinary Romanian artist Geta Brătescu on her 95th birthday.
Credited as one of the first conceptual artists in Romania, Brătescu rose to international prominence with a series of shows commending her prolific career during the 80s.
Georgeta Ann Comanescu was born on this day in 1926, north of the capital city of Bucharest in Ploiești, Romania.
She worked in as a children’s book illustrator during the 1950s, and later in the decade joined the Union of Fine Artists, a state association through which she travelled the country to sketch Romanians in their regular day to day existences.
A testament of her talent in design, in the mid ’60s she was named the artistic director of the prestigious literary magazine Secolul 20.
In any case, it was in the studio that Brătescu made quite a bit of her most popular work across an variety of mediums, including drawing, photography, film, and collages of commonplace materials.
She was known for tackling themes like the relationship between art and life with a characteristic dry humor, however she as often as possible resisted categorization of her work.
In 1978, Brătescu opened up her space and process to the world in one of her most famous works, the meta black-and-white film, “Atelierul” (“The Studio”).
In 2017, at the twilight of her seven-decade-long career, Brătescu was given the honor to address Romania at the prestigious Venice Biennale, and around the same time she was granted the Ordinul Naţional “Steaua României” (National Order of the “Star of Romania”), the country’s highest civilian honor.
Here’s to a artist who refused to color within the lines–happy birthday, Geta Brătescu!
