Hatieganu

Romania is a country of 19 million citizens situated at the crossroads of Central and Eastern Europe. Created in 1859 as the Ottoman Empire loosened its influence over the area, it has straddled alliances with Russia and Europe throughout its history, juggling free-market and communist political systems. In WWI it sided with the Allied Powers, but in WWII it fought against Russia by joining the Axis powers. After the war, a betrayed Russia invaded and Romania became a socialist republic and member of the Warsaw Pact. Nicolae Ceausescu controlled the country with a despotic rule from 1947 until 1989 when he was violently overthrown.  In the modern era the nation has made the difficult transition back into democracy and a free-market economy. 
   Iuliu Hatieganu lived through the tumultuous changes in his homeland in the 19th and 20th centuries. He was born in 1885 in a part of Hungary laterto  become Romanian territory, and studied medicine, earning a doctorate in 1910. In the 1930's he became rector of the University of Cluj in what is now  Romania's 4th largest city. He founded The University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Cluj, later named for him, embracing interests as diverse as architecture, sport, and the Romanian language, performing significant research into Tuberculosis. 
   Iuliu was one of 13 children of Catholic Priest Ioan Hatieganu (1847-1931), brother to politician Emil (1878-1959) who was prosecuted under the communist regime, spending  most of his last years in prison. One brother, Aureliu (1883-1921) immigrated to the US in 1911 and settled in Cleveland where he served as pastor at St. Helena's Romanian Greek Catholic Church. Iuliu died in 1959, and when the nation issued it postage stamp series on famous persons in 1995 designed by Dinu Petre, he was one of the five so honored. He is buried in Cimitirul Cemetery in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. 
   This print is dedicated to my step- niece Christina Keenan, a descendant of Aureliu Hatieganu. 

Provenance: 

​​Paper: Rives Lightweight Buff, 115 grams
Paper Size: 10" x 13" [25.4cm x 33cm]
Image Size: 3.75" x 5.3" [9.5cm x 13.5cm]
Collage Stamp: 1995 Scott #4020, Iuliu Hatieganu 960 Lei
Edition Size: 25
Inks Used: Van Son Oil Based Printmaking Inks
Date Cut: 10 June 2022

​Production notes: ​I  scanned a Romanian postage stamp [1995 Scott #4020, Iuliu Hatieganu 960 Lei], separated the 5 colors and printed each onto standard copy paper. With a hake brush, I coated the face with a dilute aqueous solution [1:10] of matte gel medium onto which I positioned a linoleum block [4" x 6"].  I cut away the white under a stereo dissecting microscope [Bausch & Lomb 13x], and printed each color on separate days. I applied a genuine stamp  with a glue stick to the lower right corner.

Available:

$37.50 USD
$750 MXN
   Shipping: $15.00 with tracking to USA