Ștefan Câlția
Fables and Absurdities: Stefan Câlția’s First Danish Exhibitions at Galleri Jedig
Stefan Câlția is today regarded as one of the most significant painters of his generation. He studied under Julius Podlipny in Timișoara and Corneliu Baba in Bucharest, and later became professor and rector at the National University of Arts in Bucharest. Câlția’s visual world combines fable, allegory, and magical realism in a language where medieval narratives, symbolic figures, and human absurdities unfold in both painting and graphic art.
In the spring of 1986, Câlția was presented for the first time in Denmark with a solo exhibition at Galleri Jedig in Copenhagen. The exhibition was reviewed in Berlingske Tidende by Ole Nørlyng, who highlighted his “burlesque gallery of characters and poetic fantasy” and noted that his art carried “a mixture of past and present in his controlled line.” Nørlyng described the works as related to “Bosch’s visions, Brueghel’s parables, and Goya’s Caprichos,” and emphasized especially the artist’s distinctive use of the glass bubble or glass dome as a symbol: “It surrounds and encloses many of the acting figures as an expression of life’s imprisonment, while at the same time functioning as a symbol of transience.”
The following year, in 1987, Câlția returned to Galleri Jedig with another solo exhibition. Once again, Nørlyng reviewed the exhibition in Berlingske Tidende, describing the artist as a “mystical fabulist.” Among the works, Night of the Fishermen was highlighted as a central painting where human absurdity and poetry merged.
For the 1987 exhibition, Galleri Jedig produced a small catalogue, which today stands as one of the earliest printed documents about Câlția in the West. Here, Romanian critics described his universe in continuation of both Bosch and Goya. Ioan T. Morar interpreted his fables as a medieval bestiary full of humor and irony; Tudor Octavian emphasized the joy and discipline of his graphic work; and C.R. Constantinescu placed his imagery in a tradition where man confronts his own demons and temptations.
After Galleri Jedig, which was active from 1982 to 1987, Câlția was later shown in Denmark through Stalke Galleri in a group show 1999 and after a number of On View exhibitions in the years that followed.
Since the 1970s, Câlția has exhibited widely across Europe, including in Norway, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Romania, and his works are today represented in major museums such as the Museum of Contemporary Art in Oslo, the HR Giger Museum in Gruyère, Switzerland, the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Bucharest, and the Brukenthal Museum in Sibiu. He has received several official distinctions, including the Grand Cross of the National Order for Faithful Service and the King Michael I Medal for Loyalty.
In recent decades, he has continued an active international career with major solo exhibitions such as Flowers for the Queen (2012), Forgotten Minutes (2013), Recent Works (2016), Theatrical Space (2018), and The New Uroborus(2019). He himself describes his work as layered worlds: “I imagine these worlds as a representation with at least three layers. Firstly, there’s the world behind the clown; then the world on the stage itself; and finally, the layer where we find ourselves, the ones that watch, including myself, the painter.” According to critic Adrian Guță, Câlția’s works unite human experience in a search for spiritual light and harmonious existence, while Simona Vîlău emphasizes his faithfulness to the quiet discipline of the studio, where everyday discoveries and the history of objects become part of the energy of his painting.
Today, Stefan Câlția lives and works in Bucharest and in the Transylvanian village of Șona. From being virtually unknown in Europe when first exhibited in Copenhagen in 1986 and 1987, he has since become one of the most respected Romanian artists, with works in major collections and a continued strong international presence.
See the catalogue and review from the the exhibition at Galleri Jedig, 1986 -1987 (PDF)
Stefan Caltia From the front of his Catalogue, galleri Jedig 1986
Stefan Caltia, original unique poster, with oilstick, for the exhibition, Galleri Jedig 1987, Stalke Collection