Doina Lemny, museographer-researcher at the National Museum of Modern Art - "Georges Pompidou" Centre in Paris, says that the Romanian blouse, which entered the universal visual memory through Henri Matisse's masterpiece, "La Blouse roumaine," painted in 1940, becomes the character of the painting in the works of the great French artist.

"This large pattern of embroidered peasant blouse is visible in a wider geographical area in Europe. But Matisse named the painting he worked on for six months 'La Blouse Roumaine' because of his long friendship with Theodor Pallady, who returned to Bucharest in 1939-1940," Lemny told AGERPRES.

The museographer also spoke about the publication of a volume that brings together the correspondence between Matisse and Pallady.

"Analyzing the correspondence of the two artists, which is found in the Matisse archive in Paris (Issy-les-Moulineaux), we were able to follow in the footsteps of this friendship and the origin of a masterpiece. Thus, in 2019, on the occasion of the France-Romania Cultural Season, we organized an exhibition at the Pompidou Centre, "Matisse, Pallady et La Blouse roumaine," an exhibition accompanied by a beautifully illustrated book, edited at Fage, "Matisse - Pallady et La Blouse roumaine. Deux artistes sous la censure." On this occasion, we published the entirety of the correspondence in French and Romanian, from which we learn that Pallady sent Matisse as early as in 1936, when he painted his models dressed in Russian blouses, several Romanian blouses, which inspired the French artist through the sobriety of the geometric motif, mostly inspired by the oak leaf, specific to Pallady's homeland. In 1940, when he returned to Bucharest, he wrote to his French friend: "I got some old ones for you." "I hope that the blouse will be useful to you, and the same the pink, red and blue of the skirt," the researcher showed.

Doina Lemny pointed out that the Romanian blouse becomes the character of the painting in the works of Henri Matisse.

"Matisse painted several models dressed in the blouses sent by Pallady, but in his creative process, enthusiastic about their beauty, purity and elegance, he erases the face of the woman who wears it and emphasizes the blouse, which becomes the character. At the same time, it becomes a symbol of the connection of two great artists of the 20th century," said Doina Lemny.

The Romanian blouse has been celebrated in recent years on June 24, at the initiative of the online community "La Blouse Roumaine", from 2022 this day becoming, by law, the Romanian Blouse Day. AGERPRES (RO - author: Daniel Popescu, editor: Florin Marin, EN - author: Cristina Zaharia, editor: Adina Panaitescu)