“Dinu and Sevasta Vintilă” Art Museum Topalu

The “Dinu and Sevasta Vintilă” Art Museum in Topalu was founded by Gheorghe Vintilă, a doctor and art collector, originally from Topalu. His parents, Dinu and Sevasta Vintilă, were teachers in the village and had an important role in the development of local cultural life. The passion for culture was also instilled in their son, who, starting from 1920, collected works of art, managing to build a valuable collection, representative of Romanian art from the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. In 1960, doctor Gheorghe Vintilă donated 228 works from his collection to the Topalu City Hall, thus establishing, as a tribute to his parents, the “Dinu and Sevasta Vintilă” Art Museum in Topalu.

The Topalu Museum houses 228 works of painting, sculpture and graphics, works by some of the most important artists of Romanian art. In the halls of the museum, the art-loving public can see paintings signed by Ion Andreescu, Nicolae Grigorescu, Ştefan Luchian, Mircea Demetrescu, Octav Băncilă, Theodor Pallady, Gheorghe Petraşcu, Nicolae Tonitza, Camil Ressu, Corneliu Baba, Alexandru Ciucurencu, etc., as well as sculptures signed by Oscar Han, Dimitrie Paciurea, Corneliu Medrea or Ion Jalea.

In the courtyard of the museum is the grave of Gheorghe Vintilă, according to his wish. It is guarded by a bust of him, sculpted by Oscar Han, who was his good friend and most important adviser.