Neculai Păduraru. ”I don't think American art had any major influence over Romanian visual art.”

 Neculai Păduraru, b. 1946, artist

1. What American art exhibitions did you see between 1965 and 1989?

I was too young to claim to be influenced by American art. Even now, I can't say what part of universal culture stimulated me. I can say I have my reservations when it comes to influences. I can state that I've been influenced by all the great values of the world. 


2. Between 1965 and 1989, did you see American art in Romania or abroad?

I was twenty at the time and didn't know any American artists at all.


3. Which American artists and what American approaches/trends/styles interested you at the time?

I don't think American art influenced Romanian artists a great deal. European art had a much greater influence over Romanian artists. 


4. What position did American art and visual culture have in the artistic milieu you frequented at the time; was it a topic of conversation, was it influential?

Please compare it with the influence of European art or art from communist spaces.


5. Retrospectively, do you think that American art and visual culture were a decisive factor in your development as an artist/theoretician?

American art didn't really influence me, personally. Instead, American music was a great influence.


6. Did the American art exhibitions organized in Romania during that period contribute decisively in this sense, or did the information you had about American art and visual culture in general contribute more to this impact?

American painting seemed facile to me. It helped me overcome the masterpiece complex.


7. Do you remember whether the presentation and reception of American art and visual culture were encouraged by the communist regime?

The communist regime didn't encourage Western influence, but it wasn't prohibited. The most important Romanian artists studied Western art. 


8. Was being a sympathizer of American art esthetically/ideologically/politically risky?


9. Retrospectively, do you think the influence of American art and visual culture on Romanian art and visual culture between 1965 and 1989 contributed to the transformation/development of Romanian culture and society? If so, in what way?

I don't think American art had any major influence over Romanian visual art.


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