Gustav Klimt exhibition opens at Peles castle

The Gustav Klimt and Kunstlerkompanie expo opened at the Peles castle in Sinaia this weekend. The exhibition, which includes works of young Viennese painters Gustav Klimt, Ernst Klimt and Franz Matsch, done at the request of King Carol I, will be open to the public until December 15. The works currently hosted at the Peles castle were completed between 1883 and 1886 in the Kunstler-Compagnie studio.

Kunstler-Compagnie was a painting studio active between 1879 and 1892. The studio served decorative works of private and public buildings inside and outside the Austro-Hungarian empire.

The Peles castle is the most important host of Gustav Klimt’s works in Romania. These can be grouped under three categories: the king’s Ancestors Gallery of the Peles Castle, including the king’s ancestors from the Hohenzollern House; copies of well know works; and original works which are on display in the castle’s Theater Hall or can be seen on the ceiling of the Honor Stairs.

The Peles Castle was built at the initiative of King Carol I, to serve as a summer residence. The most important event hosted by the Peles Castle until the abdication of King Michael I, in December 1947, was the celebration of the semi-centenary of the castle in 1933, according to a presentation available on the museum’s website. From January to March 1948, the castle was closed by the order of the communist authorities and the heritage assets were inventoried. Most collections of paintings, furniture, textiles, decorative art pieces and books were transferred to the National Art Museum in Bucharest. The same year, in May, other pieces came into the custody of various cultural institutions in different cities of Romania, Bucharest, Braşov, Sibiu, etc. Since 1953, the castle has been a National Museum, open to the public, while the other estates at Peles, such as Pelisor Castle, the private residence of the second royal couple, Ferdinand I and Marie, Foisor Castle, the former hunting lodge belonging to the first King of Romania and the residence of the Kings Carol II and Michael I became boarding houses for writers, artists and musicologists accepted by the communist regime.

From 1990, respectively 1993 until today, the Peles and Pelisor castles have been reopened to visit. In 2007, after five years of negotiations between the Romanian State and the Royal Family, an agreement was reached and the Peles and Pelisor castles, as well as the entire Peles area consisting in the former royal outbuildings have been transferred into King Michael I’s property, but continue to be administered by the Romanian State.