IGOR VIERU MUSEUM

Igor Vieru (1923-1988) is a major painter of 20th century Moldova, on the same level as Mihai Grecu and Valentina Rusu. Igor Vieru is a humanist, passionate about his country and his land. He communicates this love through an expressive and poetic painting, evoking the culture and folklore of his country, the life of peasant women. In 1946, he enrolled at the School of Fine Arts of Chișinău, from which he graduated in 1949; later he became its director. In the meantime, he taught drawing at the Pedagogical School of Călărași and then French in Cernoleuca.

His work represents about 70 paintings and 12 collections of illustration books. Among his best known works: Spring, In his village, Stroll in the land, Autumn, Celebration in Cernoleuca, Master Manole. Today, his birthplace has become a national museum, the pride of the people of the village. Vieru was a highly respected man, a renowned pedagogue and artist. It is with all his humility that he will return to his native village to continue his work until the end of his life. The plastic arts high school in the neighbourhood from Rîșcani to Chișinău is named after him and in Cernoleuca there is also a plastic arts school. His 1968 painting, depicting a peasant couple sitting under an apple tree and surrounded by a ploughed field, was reproduced on a 3 lei stamp issued in 2002 by the Moldavian postal service. Igor Vieru's son, Roland, is a talented wood and stone sculptor. He made the monument in homage to his father in the cemetery of Cernoleuca.