Background
Nuțiu was born in Bilbor, Harghita, Romania on July 28, 1932. He was the son of a forester and a housewife.
Strada Nicolae Iorga 1, Târgu Mureș 540088, Romania
Nuțiu graduated from the Pedagogical High School 'Petru Maior' (now known as the Petru Maior University of Târgu Mureș) at the end of the 1940s.
Strada Aurel Vlaicu 17-19, Cluj-Napoca 400581, Romania
From 1951 to 1957, Nuțiu was a student of the Fine Arts Institute 'Ion Andreescu' (now the Art and Design University of Cluj-Napoca) in Cluj.
Strada Nicolae Iorga 1, Târgu Mureș 540088, Romania
Nuțiu graduated from the Pedagogical High School 'Petru Maior' (now known as the Petru Maior University of Târgu Mureș) at the end of the 1940s.
Strada Aurel Vlaicu 17-19, Cluj-Napoca 400581, Romania
From 1951 to 1957, Nuțiu was a student of the Fine Arts Institute 'Ion Andreescu' (now the Art and Design University of Cluj-Napoca) in Cluj.
Portrait photo of Romul Nuțiu.
Romul Nuțiu during his exhibition.
(From the series Memory Pyramid.)
From the series Memory Pyramid.
(From the Memory Pyramid series.)
From the Memory Pyramid series.
(From the Memory Pyramid series.)
From the Memory Pyramid series.
(From the Memory Pyramid series.)
From the Memory Pyramid series.
Nuțiu was born in Bilbor, Harghita, Romania on July 28, 1932. He was the son of a forester and a housewife.
Romul Nuțiu went to a primary school in Cașva village, Mures county in 1938. In 1940, trying to escape the Dictate from Vienna, Nuțiu took refuge in Blaj and settled in Reghin in 1941. There he graduated from the Pedagogical High School 'Petru Maior' (now known as the Petru Maior University of Târgu Mureș) at the end of the 1940s.
From 1951 to 1957, Nuțiu was a student of the Fine Arts Institute 'Ion Andreescu' (now the Art and Design University of Cluj-Napoca) in Cluj. There he studied under the supervision with the professors Petru Feier and Teodor Harsia; while Edwin Solomon, Leon Vreme, Vasile Pop Szilagy, Paul Sima, Mircea Balau, Alexandru Cristea, and Sofia Kryzanowska were among his colleagues.
Nuțiu settled in Timișoara in 1957. There he took part for the first time at the Annual Fine Arts Salon, where he displayed his artworks permanently since then. At the salon opening, Romul Nuțiu met Alexandru Ciucurencu, Catul Bogdan, Petru Comarnescu and Romul Ladea.
His artistic career evolved from the early 1960s, when he was eager to experience new ways of relating to painting. In his oeuvre, the author reflected the idea of 'elan vital', originally initiated by the French philosopher Henri Bergson. This 'philosophem' defines an omnipresent spiritual force which produces the development. It can be perceived only intuitively, not rationally.
Nuțiu made his first steps towards abstraction in the early 1960s, creating modular compositions, all of which were paintings on canvas. At the same time, the artist also executed objects called assemblage; he used different canvases stuck on each other which produced a three-dimensional effect.
In the year 1960, Romul Nuțiu started teaching at the Fine Arts High School in Timișoara, working together with professor Julius Podlipny. The two had a good pedagogical collaboration. He also became a lecturer at the University in Timișoara, Graphics Department, holding a post there from 1961 till 1979.
In the 1970s, he began his work on a theme called Dynamic Universe. In this period Romul Nuțiu got the idea to build several vessels with dimensions of about 160x160 cm having a depth of 10 cm. He filled them with water and industrial paints usually used for cars. These paints could not be absorbed by the water and created unforeseen shapes. The artist influenced those shapes by intervening with a stick until he liked the result. Subsequently, he placed a canvas on the water’s surface. The canvas absorbed the paint which was a moment earlier in the water. That'show he created many of his artworks.
Nuțiu became the author of a few important murals and decorative artworks along the country since 1968. Among them were the Railway Station Hall in Baile Herculane, with a ceramic mosaic, entitled "Tradition, a monumental art project - Science, Literature and Art", transposed in coloured cements technique, together with Gabriel Kazynczy (1973); an ensemble of two monumental artworks at the Orizont Hotel in Predeal (1977) as well as the 1980s monumental work "Mapamond", designed for Timișoara International Airport and created along with the artist Lidia Ciolac.
In the 1980s Nuțiu became interested in vegetal structures, especially roots and he subsequently created a series known as Sections through Fertile Soil, inspired by nature. In the 1990s the artist entitled his body of work Beyond Appearances. The paintings during this period of time became more graphic and symbolical which is seen in the artwork Blue Universe (1999). The paintings were abstract and extremely colourful. At the end of the 1990s he became inspired by water, and until the early 2000s, he was extremely engaged with this subject.
In 1992 he was appointed professor at the Art Faculty of West University of Timișoara, at the Painting Department. This position he held until 1998, when he retired. However, he returned as a professor at Tibiscus University of Timişoara, the Design Faculty sometime later. From 2002 he served an associate professor at the University again.
Nuțiu started his collaboration with art dealer and historian Dr. Joana Grevers, who was the owner of 418 Contemporary Art Gallery in Bucharest, in 2008. Romul Nuțiu constantly presented his artworks in numerous solo shows and projects until his death. In the last years of his life, Nuțiu returned to his earlier themes.
Romul Nuțiu made a significant contribution to the world of abstract art. His artworks were numerously exhibited not only in his native Romania but abroad as well.
Many of his paintings were sold at auctions. For instance, his painting "Blue Dynamic Universe" was sold for 21,250 GBP at Christie's London, UK; in 2014 two of his artworks were sold, including "Subterranean Vegetal Structure II" for 12,500 GBP at Christie's London, UK, and "Water" for 12,700 EUR at Neumeister Alte-Kunst Moderne, Munich, Germany.
Invasion of the Colors
(From the series Memory Pyramid.)
Red Totem
(From the Memory Pyramid series.)
Oak Totem
(From the Memory Pyramid series.)
Symbols
(From the Memory Pyramid series.)
Blue Dynamic Universe
Waterfall III
Waterfall IV
Blue Danubius
Blue Tree III
Nude
Rhythm
Blue Waterfall
Falling Stars
Underground Vegetal Structure XXV
Ball Agenda II
Furioso!
The Brawl
Modular Composition I
The Vortex
Modular Composition IV
Flow
Waterfall I
Section
Searching
Modular Composition III
Jurnal VIII
Diary VI
Illumination
Symbol (Terra)
Dynamic Universe I
Dynamic Universe XXXXI
Iguazu
Normal Women
Untitled
Waterfall
Diary VII
Blue Tree
Abandoned Nest
The Legend
The Street II
Cromatic Spectacle on the Pyramid
Incandescent Rain
Route of the Snail
Secrets of the Mountain
Dance of the Iele
The Sacred Mountain
Dynamic Universe
The Bird Tamer
The Bacchanal
Hourglass
The Big Waterfall
Dynamic Universe XXIV
Configuration
Symbols of Memory
Dynamic Universe II
The Fountain
Portrait
Spiral
Telamon in Motion
The Street
Relay (Ease)
Quotations: "In 1957, when I graduated, my belief was strictly connected to the idea that the perception of things is rather important for the creation act, but being limited, one has to appeal to the subconscious through experiment, challenge and transcendence. My informal was born from hard work and devotion. At that moment, I knew few things about contemporary art, and what I learned in school was just some academic knowledge that was only partially useful. Later on, when I started to travel, I came in contact with the European informal. In the big museums I found out that my way was somehow synchronized, having a polarity to what I was seeing. Abstract expressionism and the European informal made me understand that I have to keep my own authenticity and sensitivity."
Romul Nuțiu became a member of Romanian Artists Union in 1961.
Quotes from others about the person
Ruxandra Demetrescu: "In the 7th decade of the last century he [Romul Nuțiu] was one of the first Romanian artists that had professed the Abstract Expressionism and/or European Informal. He remained faithful to abstraction in general and then he converted painting into object. The innovative character corresponds naturally in his case with that of an avantgardist (even in the literal sense of the word)."
The artist got married to Felicia Bircea, also a teacher, in 1962. The marriage produced a daughter, Simona, born in 1966. His daughter would also become an active artist later on.
