Between November 24-26, 2023, the Brukenthal National Museum will exhibit for the first time two works signed by Gustav Klimt – Spring and Summer, as well as the work Carol I by Theodor Aman.
The works from the heritage of the Peleș National Museum were restored in the laboratory of the Brukenthal National Museum, a premiere in the field for Romania.
This year, the Peleș National Museum signed a contract with the Brukenthal National Museum, which provides for the restoration of two paintings by the Viennese artist and a painting of King Carol I, made by the Romanian artist Theodor Aman.
 
"Spring" and "Summer", classified Thesaur, restored by the experts of the Brukenthal National Museum
 
Alexandru Constantin Chituță, the interim manager of the Brukenthal National Museum, said:
 

  "It was an honor to have two oil works by Gustav Klimt in custody in Sibiu, and the Restoration Laboratory of the Brukenthal National Museum to restore these important pieces from the Peleș National Museum, the only institution from our country that houses some works signed by the artist and Austrian decorator Gustav Klimt. His art contributed to the outbreak of an artistic "revolution" in Europe. One of Klimt's most famous and well-known paintings is "The Kiss" (1907-1908). It dates from the so-called "golden" period of the artist. This is best illustrated by the golden petals phosphorescently illuminating the intimate scene of the kiss. Two works came to us from the Peleș National Museum in Sibiu: «Spring» and «Summer». The works are classified in the Treasury category and, according to the legislation in force, must be restored by restorers with the title of expert in a laboratory certified by the Ministry of Culture. In this sense, I mention the fact that all five painting restorers have the title of expert, and the Laboratory of the Brukenthal National Museum has been certified since 2011. With the agreement of manager Narcis Dorin Ion PhD, the three works will be presented to the public at the Brukenthal National Museum, and alongside these works there will also be explanations of the restoration work. We considered it a chance for the people of Sibiu and visitors to observe these works and the stages of the restoration process in an exhibition".

The team of painting restorers of the Brukenthal National Museum is made up of Ioan Muntean, Cristina Fău, Andrei Popa, Ilie Mitrea and Celestina Albișor, and the project is carried out with the funding from the Ministry of Culture.
 
Narcis Dorin Ion PhD, the general director of the Peleș National Museum, pointed out: "In 2023, the Peleș National Museum and the Brukenthal National Museum launched a partnership for the restoration of some treasure works from the royal painting collection from Sinaia. One of the first portraits of King Carol I, after ascending to the throne of Romania, was made in 1868 by the great national painter Theodor Aman. The work, an apparatus portrait of the ruler who came from the Hohenzollern dynasty, shows the young sovereign at the beginning of his reign, in military uniform, holding in his right hand the scroll with the decree promulgating the young Constitution of Romania. An emblematic work for the series of royal portraits, Aman's is the only portrait made by a great Romanian painter. Kept in the warehouses of the Peleș National Museum for decades, in a precarious state of preservation, this year Aman's work will come back to life".
 
Klimt decorative ensemble, commissioned by the builder of the royal residence at Sinaia
 
One of the most important decorative ensembles of Gustav Klimt is, from 1884 – 1885, in the Theater Hall of the Peleș Castle. Commissioned by the founder of the royal residence at Sinaia, the decorative ensemble "Muses, masks, allegories, emblems" is revealing of the talent of the father of the Viennese Secession. Although a tribute to late academism of a symbolist hue, the works herald the innovative spirit of Klimt's painting.
The extensive restoration operations of the ensemble begin this year, as part of a multi-year program, by restoring the freshness of the "Spring" and "Summer" canvases, works located on the west wall of the Theater Hall, near the royal lodge.
 
X-ray physical analysis and chemical analysis
 
Ioan Muntean, restorer at the Brukenthal National Museum, explained:
 

  "The two works are pendants, they have the same size (100 x 50 cm) and oil on canvas execution technique, and their state of conservation is similar. In a first phase of work, two restorers made a trip to the Peleș National Museum and dismantled the paintings, they were attached to the wall, directly with the help of metal nails, which caused extensive deformations of the support. After the paintings arrived in the laboratory, a series of physical analyzes were carried out with the help of X-rays, as well as XRF chemical analyzes through which the pigments used by the painter in the creation of the works were identified. Based on these analyses, but also after the paintings were studied in UV light, a series of restoration proposals were made, in stages of work to be executed. In the next stage, the museum's restorers performed specific operations of: restoring the flatness of the textile support; operations to strengthen the edges of the textile support by applying strips of cloth with a grain similar to the original, these strips helped to fix the painting on the wooden frame; making a professional chassis that can be tensioned later; cleaning operations of the original color layer, this is a particularly important stage and must be carried out with the utmost care so that the original color layer is not endangered; grouting and grinding operations; chromatic integration of the areas with stratigraphic gaps that were grouted and the final varnishing of the work. After their presentation in Sibiu, the paintings will be transported to the Peleș National Museum, where they will be mounted on the wall".