An exhibition highlighting the emblematic figure of sculptor Ovidiu Maitec (1925-2007), and especially his cultural legacy, marking 100 years since his birth, will be open to visitors from 5 December 2025 to 15 February 2026 in the gallery of the Szeged branch of the Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR) in Budapest, Hungary.
According to a press release the Romanian Cultural Institute sent to AGERPRES on Tuesday, the exhibition titled 'Maitec 100' brings together sculpture, graphic works and paintings by contemporary artists - Stefan Oroian and Lorant Janos Demeter from Hungary alongside Dumitru Serban and Rudolf Kocsis from Romania - who pay tribute to the sculptor through works created especially for this project.
The opening will take place on Friday, 5 December, at 17:00, in the ICR Szeged gallery, in the presence of Oradea art critic Aurel Chiriac, the exhibition curator.
On this occasion an interview with Ovidiu Maitec, recorded during his study grant offered by the French state, will be screened.
A montage will also be shown including images from the charity exhibition initiated in 1990 by Stefan Oroian and Lorant Janos Demeter after the tragic episode that marked the artist for the rest of his life: during the 1989 Revolution, on the night before Christmas, more than 70 works, the sculptor's archive and his library burned in a fire caused by gunfire in the area. The video materials were produced by the Romanian Language Editorial Team of Hungarian Television.
The exhibition may be visited between 8 December 2025 and 15 February 2026 from Tuesday to Friday between 10:00 and 15:00. During the holiday period the exhibition will be closed. Visits outside the listed hours are possible by prior appointment at szeged@icr.ro
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Recognised as one of the most important Romanian sculptors of the twentieth century, described by Mircea Eliade as 'the spiritual heir of Brancusi, the artist who managed to bring light into wood,' Ovidiu Maitec was born in 1925 in Arad and graduated from the Nicolae Grigorescu Institute of Fine Arts in Bucharest in 1950.
In the 1960s Maitec brought innovation to sculpture by introducing rhythmic perforations in wood, an approach that added kinetic and constructivist minimalist elements to his art, a unique contribution to postwar European art.
His international career was marked by participations in the Venice Biennale (1968, 1976, 1980, 1995), which brought him collaborations with influential figures such as gallerist Richard Demarco and collector Jim Ede, with the work 'The Angels' being acquired by Tate Gallery in London.
Invited by the French Ministry of Culture, Maitec moved to Paris, where he continued to work until his death in 2007.
His works are held in prestigious museums and collections in Romania and abroad (Tate, Kettle's Yard, FNAC Paris etc.).
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