Constantin Lucaci

Constantin Lucaci studied drawing and modeling first under Tiberiu Bottlik (1884-1974) and then at the Free Academy of Arts “Guguianu” in București, from which he graduated in 1948. He attended the Institute of Fine Arts “Nicolae Grigorescu” (now the National University of Fine Arts) for five years and participated in the Venice Biennale in 1954. In 1963 he spent some time in Perugia at the Academy of Fine Arts and, a few years later, on scholarship in Paris.

In 1973 Lucaci was appointed secretary of the International Union of Visual Artists. In 1984 he was awarded the Herder Prize of the University of Wien (Vienna) for his complete works, for which he received numerous other prizes and medals at home and abroad in the following decades. From 1993 Lucaci taught as a professor at the Department of Sculpture at the Academy of Arts in Cluj.

In addition to sculpturing, he was interested in the surrounding universe and in music. Lucaci turned to abstract forms and became best known for his kinetic fountains and monumental stone and steel sculptures, most of which can be seen in various cities in Romania. In 2012, in his birthplace of Bocșa Română, the museum “Constantin Lucaci” was inaugurated, displaying 17 stainless steel sculptures he donated to the city.

In 1950, while still a student, Lucaci created the figure The Swimmer in the style of Socialist Realism, first as a plaster model, which was exhibited in Helsinki in 1952. In the same year it was also cast as a bronze sculpture (129 x 51 x 80 cm). The Swimmer was shown at the Official Salon in București and later at the Venezia Biennale, and is now in the Romanian National Gallery.