Ion Șinca · Collections

Where the works are

Of the 216 documented works, the archive knows where 61 are today. For 156 it does not. This page shows both, because a serious catalogue has to be able to say “I don’t know”.

Where a work is, who owns it, whose hands it passed through, whether it ever went to auction, where it was exhibited and where it was printed are six different things. This page holds the first. The others have their own pages, linked below.

Location documented · 61 works

Where they are today.

Four places, in the order of how firmly we know them: the public collection first, then the private collection that gave us its consent, the school studio, and the family home.

In a public collection · 23 works

„Ion Ionescu-Quintus” Prahova County Art Museum

Works that entered the collection of the Ploiești museum — the earliest from 1976, the latest from 2011. They are heritage objects: they stay documented there whatever happens to the rest of the archive.

Studio composition with an antique torso, drapery, plaster casts and Leonardo's Vitruvian Man drawn on a white panel, against a maroon squared ground. — IS-0001
Universe
Univers
1976 · oil on canvas · 80 × 80 cm

A group of miners with tools, in brown silhouettes, against overlapping blue-grey planes like mine galleries. — IS-0003
Miners
Mineri
1978 · oil on canvas · 79 × 65 cm

An old motor car seen frontally, broken into ochre, white and brown planes against an almost empty white ground. — IS-0005
The Old Car
Mașina veche
1980 · tempera / canvas · 55 × 70 cm

A ravine seen frontally, its brown walls fanning out towards a pale centre under a white-grey sky. — IS-0006
The Red Ravine
Râpa Roșie
1980 · oil on canvas · 96 × 82 cm

A ravine in deep red with a golden-yellow block at its centre and a black foreground, beneath a blue hill. — IS-0007
The Red Ravine
Râpa Roșie
1980 · oil on canvas · 108 × 100 cm

A frontal portrait of a heavy-set man with folded arms, against a ground of grey worker silhouettes. — IS-0008
Steelworkers
Oțelari
1981 · oil on canvas · 103 × 104 cm

A canal running towards the viewer between stone banks, beneath a blue mountain and a rust-coloured wood. — IS-0010
The Canal
Canal
1982 · oil on canvas · 92 × 92 cm

A mountain valley seen from above, with a blue-green massif behind and sunlit slopes in front. — IS-0014
Landscape in the Doftana Valley
Peisaj la Valea Doftanei
1985 · oil on canvas · 73 × 65 cm

A row of white gabled houses among bluish trees, beneath a green hill and an ochre sky. — IS-0015
Radzin Chełmiński
Radzin Chelminschy
1985 · oil on canvas · 55 × 50 cm

A white house with a brown roof behind a plank fence, with a fruit tree and tall firs at sunrise. — IS-0016
Summer Morning
Dimineață de vară
1986 · oil on canvas · 70.5 × 60.5 cm

A wide valley seen from above, with dark green slopes and blue hills under a grey overcast sky. — IS-0017
Landscape
Peisaj
1986 · oil on canvas · 88 × 74 cm

A hill of ochre and reddish rock above a green meadow, with small trees under a beige sky. — IS-0021
Landscape
Peisaj
1988 · oil on canvas · 98 × 81 cm

A dense wood of silvery trunks with white branches crossing against a dark blue ground. — IS-0022
The Silver Forest
Pădurea de argint
1988 · oil on canvas · 64 × 54 cm

The edge of a wood beside a country road, with a green meadow at the left and blue hills behind. — IS-0024
Forest Edge
Lizieră
1990 · oil on canvas · 65 × 50 cm

A hill crest seen from above, with a white path winding down towards a wide valley. — IS-0026
Landscape
Peisaj
1991 · oil on canvas · 42 × 42 cm

A valley with a wide stony river, slender poplars on the bank and wooded hills under an ochre sky. — IS-0027
The Doftana Valley
Valea Doftanei
1991 · oil on canvas · 98 × 70 cm

A blue nocturne with a crest of lit white stones at the centre and red-brown banks in the foreground. — IS-0033
Ghost by Moonlight
Fantoma sub clar de lună
1994 · oil on canvas · 130 × 97 cm

A watercolour of a green valley and a white stream under heavy blue clouds and a dark tree. — IS-0037
Cloudy Landscape at Cornu
Peisaj înnorat la Cornu
1994 · watercolour · 35 × 27 cm

A snowy hill with two bare trees on the ridge and a reddish path descending in the foreground. — IS-0039
View from Brebu
Priveliște de la Brebu
1994 · oil on canvas · 64 × 51.5 cm

A white house with a large wooden barn above it, a wattle fence and a conical stack at the left. — IS-0095
Landscape at Pietriceaua
Peisaj la Pietriceaua
2002 · oil on canvas · 70 × 50 cm

An old house with a rusty metal roof and a corner porch, with a haystack at the right. — IS-0161
The Old House
Casa veche
2011 · oil on canvas · 60 × 50 cm

A watercolour of overlapping blue-green hills beneath a violet crest and a pale sky. — IS-0166
Landscape at Cornu
Peisaj la Cornu
2011 · watercolour · approx. 36 × 28 cm

A row of green willows on a bank, with a brown road in front and a white-grey sky. — IS-0169
Willows
Sălcii
2011 · oil on canvas · 60 × 50 cm

A private collection · 4 works

The Badea Cârțan collection

A private collection in Ploiești, documented with the owner's consent.

A lock seen from above, with red and grey rectangular basins, slender poplars and a yellow sky. — IS-0012
The Lock
Ecluza
1984 · oil on canvas · 83 × 72 cm

Six ochre and blue haystacks on a green meadow before a screen of blossoming acacias. — IS-0062
Haystacks and Acacias
Căpițe și salcâmi
2002 · oil on canvas · 41.5 × 36.5 cm

An old tree with a thick trunk and twisting branches, against blue and pink hills. — IS-0102
The Great Tree
Marele Copac
2003 · oil on canvas · 97 × 91 cm

A bank covered with golden-yellow blossom, with crimson and green furrows, seen from above. — IS-0129
Bank in Bloom 3
Mal înflorit 3
2007 · oil on canvas · 122 × 113 cm

Left in the studio · 5 works

The studio at the „Ion Creangă” school

Works left in the studio of the school where he taught — some unfinished, others left there as examples for his pupils.

IS-0053

Savonarola

1998 · tempera on paper · 19 × 15 cm

A white road descending among blue-green bushes, with a large tree spreading to the right. — IS-0064
The Road to Rucăreni
Drumul spre Rucăreni
2002 · oil on canvas · 40 × 32 cm

A watercolour of four brown haystacks before a house with a red roof and porch. — IS-0093
Landscape at Brebu
Peisaj la Brebu
2002 · watercolour · 41 × 34 cm

Birches with white trunks and reddish foliage, in snow, under a uniform beige sky. — IS-0130
Birches, Pietriceaua
Mesteceni, Pietriceaua
2007 · oil on canvas, 50.5 × 41.5 cm

A bouquet of white daisies, yellow and carmine-pink flowers, on a blue-grey ground. — IS-0178
Flowers
Flori
2012 · oil on canvas · 45 × 55 cm

With the family · 29 works

In the family's collection

The works that stayed at home: the ones he did not sell, those given to his daughter and his wife, and those found again in old photographs.

A grey composition with rows of white trees and zigzag branches scratched into the paint, arranged in horizontal bands. — IS-0004
Orchards
Livezi
1979 · 120 × 86 cm

A group of female figures in long robes, drawn in sepia washes before a sketched architecture. — IS-0018
In „Cântarea României” (Song to Romania)
În cântarea României
1986 · approx.. 150 × 150 cm · Teatrul Național București · reprodusă în „Luceafărul”, 4 octombrie 1986

Crimson and white flowering shrubs at the edge of a green grove, with misty hills behind. — IS-0030
The Edge of the Grove
Liziera crângului
1993 · oil on canvas · 50.5 × 35 cm

A plant with red and rust leaves in a clay pot, against a blue drape. — IS-0031
Still Life with Flowers
Natură statică cu flori
1993 · oil on canvas · 54.5 × 47.5 cm

A run of golden-ochre hills with a stand of black trees at their base, under a pink-violet sky. — IS-0032
Landscape with Hills
Peisaj cu dealuri
1993 · oil on canvas · approx. 22 × 16 cm

A snowy field with a long wooded hill behind and dry brown bushes in the foreground. — IS-0034
Winter at Măgurele
Iarnă la Măgurele
1994 · oil on canvas · 80 × 54.5 cm

A watercolour of two houses with red roofs among green and blue washes, on paper left white. — IS-0036
Landscape at Cornu
Peisaj la Cornu
1994 · watercolour · 30 × 20 cm

A slumping ochre-pink cliff above a narrow beach, with the blue-grey sea at the right. — IS-0040
The Cliff at Vama Veche
Faleza la Vama Veche
1995 · oil on canvas · 55.5 × 46 cm

A snow-covered road descending between rusty bushes, with a dark blue wood behind. — IS-0041
Winter Landscape
Peisaj de iarnă
1995 · oil on canvas · 55.5 × 42 cm

A wide valley with clumps of grey-green trees and an ochre road under a washed beige sky. — IS-0042
Landscape on the Prahova Valley
Peisaj pe Valea Prahovei
1995 · oil on canvas · 67 × 54 cm

A valley with orange-yellow trees among blue-green foliage, and an open slope at the left. — IS-0043
Early Autumn
Început de toamnă
1995 · oil on canvas · 50 × 40 cm

A golden-orange sunset sky above a clump of dark trees and a small barn at the right. — IS-0044
Sunset
Apus de soare
1996 · oil on canvas · 80 × 61 cm

A white hill like a wave of snow above turquoise water, under a pink-grey sky. — IS-0046
The Cornu Valley
Valea Cornului
1996 · oil on canvas · 43 × 37 cm

Red poppies in a white and blue bowl among long branches of small pink flowers, on a grey-green ground. — IS-0048
Poppies
Maci
1997 · watercolour · 40 × 30 cm

A clump of dark trees on a meadow in a pink-grey, almost monochrome light. — IS-0049
Landscape with Trees
Peisaj cu copaci
1997 · oil on canvas · approx. 29 × 21 cm

IS-0053

Savonarola

1998 · tempera on paper · 19 × 15 cm

Two boats drawn up on the bank of grey water, under a blue sky with heavy white clouds. — IS-0054
Shore 8
Țărm 8
1998 · oil on canvas · approx. 50 × 42 cm

A mountain homestead with two houses and haystacks before a fir wood and a blue mountain. — IS-0056
Haystacks in the Mountains
Căpițe la munte
2000 · oil on canvas · approx. 53 × 42 cm

A golden-ochre hill ridge seen from above, with blue-green plots in the foreground. — IS-0057
Landscape
Peisaj
2001 · oil on canvas · 46 × 39 cm

A white hill with blue-green vegetation, red-roofed houses and a stony bank above water. — IS-0072
Phantasm over the water
Fantasmă peste apă
2002 · oil on canvas · 60 × 50 cm

A bunch of sunflowers in a green clay vase against a neutral grey ground. — IS-0082
Sunflower
Floarea soarelui
2002 · oil on canvas · approx. 64 × 61 cm

A row of white blossoming trees before a blue hill, under a grey sky with a pink streak. — IS-0107
Trees in Bloom
Pomi înfloriți
2005 · oil on canvas · approx. 70 × 50 cm

A white house almost hidden by large ochre-brown crowns, in warm muted light. — IS-0109
Landscape
Peisaj
2006 · oil on canvas · 47 × 40 cm

A watercolour of a Saxon house with pink and blue roofing and a ladder against the wall. — IS-0176
House at Viscri
Casă la Viscri
2012 · watercolour · approx. 37 × 29 cm

A porch with a red roof and white posts, with a cascade of white and pink flowers hanging. — IS-0179
Flowers from Viscri
Flori de Viscri
2012 · oil on canvas · 42.5 × 39.5 cm

A row of old houses with arched gateways and red windows, along a dirt road. — IS-0184
Saxon Houses at Viscri
Case săsești la Viscri
2013 · oil on canvas · approx. 125 × 89 cm

A blue winter landscape with white forms and a dark bank, under a blue sky. — IS-0215
Winter Phantasm 2
Fantasma iernii 2
technical details being documented

A stand of slender dark trees on a band of red-brown earth, under a heavy grey sky. — IS-0216
Landscape with Trees
Peisaj cu arbori
watercolour · 48 × 37 cm

Location not documented · 156 works

We do not know where they are.

Each of these is documented as a work — photograph, catalogue, exhibition, dimensions. What is missing is today’s address. They are not lost: they are unrecorded. If you recognise one — you own it, you have seen it, you know where it went — write to dd@m75.ro. Any line helps.

See them all, with photographs: “Where is it now?” ↗ — a title tells nobody anything; a photograph does.

Or just the list of all 156 works

History, not location · 11 works

Passed through auction.

A passage through auction is a moment in the life of a work, not its address. It tells you the work existed, that it was for sale then and sometimes what it fetched. It does not tell you who owns it today. That is why these works appear here in addition to, not instead of, the section above.

All eleven are also listed as being with the family. For those that were sold, that can no longer be true — it remains to be checked, work by work, and corrected here.

Not yet settled · 1 work

Being documented.

Works we do not yet know enough about — the year, the dimensions or the provenance remain to be confirmed. They are here precisely so they are not lost.

A black-and-white graphic composition with dense angular forms, like a flock in flight. — IS-0214
The Dance of the Birds
Dansul păsărilor
tempera · 70 × 52 cm

The other five questions

What this page does not answer.

Where a work was shown, in which catalogue it was printed and what was written about it are just as many layers, each with its own address.

The whole archive ↗