Text from the exhibition curator: On the occasion of Romania`s National Holiday, the Brukenthal National Museum opens the exhibition “The Eliza and Vladimir Cantaragiu Donation”. This valuable collection, donated to our museum by Cantaragiu family, encompasses 351 artworks, most of them signed by important Romanian artists from diaspora, all highly ranked on the European art market. There are works signed by Nicolae Maniu – the best sold Romanian artist of the present days, by Ion Vlad – who is considered an equal of Constantin Brâncuşi by the French art critics, by Corneliu Baba, Magdalena Rădulescu, Jana Cernătescu, Marcel Chirnoagă, Eugen Popa, Sorin Ilfoveanu. The donation consists of paintings, graphics, drawings, sketches, studies for sculpture, sculpture in plaster, bronze sculpture, sculpture in stone - marble, decorative art - overlapping colored paper collages. Brukenthal National Museum has made ​​the first steps to take over this collection in 2006 and finalized them this year. In October, our specialist Robert Strebeli and Frank – Thomas Ziegler, representative of the Evangelical Church of Sibiu, went in Salzgitter (Germany) to receive this donation. Considering the managerial professionalism of our institution, Mrs. Eliza Cantaragiu decided to donate more artworks than it was previously established, provided the museum would publicly exhibit them and never alienate them. At Mrs. Eliza Cantaragiu`s request, our curator filmed and photographed the exhibition space and all the artworks, considering the fact that Cantaragiu Gallery was unique in Salzgitter and, along time, was visited by important people: Klaus Iohannis, Romania`s elected president, Ion Caramitru, former Romanian Minister of Culture, art critic Pavel Chihaia etc. Thus, the museum preserves the image of Cantaragiu Gallery as it was conceived by owners, artists and art critics. This donation to Brukenthal National Museum is the outcome of Mrs. Eliza Cantaragiu`s expressed wished and of the will signed in 2011 by Cantaragiu family. The Evangelical Church of Sibiu supported the collection take off by means of transportation to Romania, translation and accommodation. Following Mrs. Eliza Cantaragiu`s desire, Brukenthal National Museum will continue efforts to take over other artworks from this family collection. The exhibition “Donation of Eliza and Vladimir Cantaragiu” is open to visitation at the Contemporary Art Museum, between 26.11 – 31.12.2014. Beginning with the 1st of February 2015, “Donation of Eliza and Vladimir Cantaragiu” will be integrated to the visiting storage of the Contemporary Art Museum.