Museum of Art Collections — Attraction in Bucharest

Excellent facility with a large variety of artwork though not comprehensive. It appears to be several collections of private patrons on display with mostly Romanian 19th century paintings with a sprinkling of other regions ranging from prehistoric figurines and vases to modern plexiglass sculptures by a Japanese artist. There is one large 14th century painting done by a famous Chinese calligrapher Wenzhen Ming (probably now worth millions) and many pieces of Japanese and Iranian pieces. We noted that there was one pottery thought to be from China, but it looked Japanese (based on the womens' hairstyle in a depiction in the glaze, and one tall pottery identified as Chinese and looks like Chinese except for the painted words which were scribbles and not Chinese.

The facility is in excellent condition with clean restrooms. There are a multitude of stairs, and the route is carefully planned out to provide flow. Security is very happy to help and when they saw we were trying to take a photo, they turned on additional lights to brighten the room. My partner appeared tired climbing the stairs and the staff urged her to sit down for a bit.

Like many other places in Bucharest, signage is sparse. We entered the small front gate and into the courtyard which had a new statues and a fountain. To get in, we walked up the front steps and opened an unmarked door which brought us into the unmanned lobby. We went down the hallway to the right to find the ticket desk. The cost for seniors was $16 Lei each and we noted differences in ticket policy with other museums. The Military museum would not allow senior prices for Americans and another museum would not let us in at all without a passport (which we had left at our hotel).

We visited on a Monday in the summer and attendance at this museum was sparse. I think there was more security than there were visitors, which was appreciated after the herd flow at Bran Castle (aka Drakula Castle) and Peles Castle/Palace we visited the day before on...

Let me say this first: there were some bloody good paintings in this gallery. This fact in itself ended up playing a major part in making my experience as unpleasant as it was - the reason being that I was all the more keen to try and experience the artwork properly, and yet prevented from doing so by several unacceptable distractions. Most of the time I spent in there was actually ruined by my growing awareness of - and decreasing ability to ignore - the several invigilators pursuing me and inspecting my every move, or even slightest change in glance. From the point of view of someone trying to enjoy an artwork, this is a piece of unforgivable barbarism. It doesn't finish there. Upon leaving the gallery, some sort of police guard approached my Romanian friend and started talking to him and, as I found out later, requested that he go to a local shop to buy him, I kid you not, a single lemon. Since the guard was entrusting my friend with a sizeable amount of cash, he made me stay at the gallery for the 15 minutes it took my friend to go and buy this Neanderthal a lemon. My request is simple: do justice to the craft of the art contained in the gallery, by commencing a comprehensive reshuffle of all the invigilating staff, and fire the bloody police guard....

Wonderful hidden gem! Sprawling complex of interconnected buildings showcasing amazing medieval, renaissance, impressionist paintings, art, furnishings, religious objects collected by various private collectors in Romania. Arab, Ottoman, Far Eastern, European...... Need atleast several hours to fully enjoy and visit most floors, sections!

Romania could benefit from a clear framework to allow and encourage the traditional Friends of Museum Associations/Foundations prevalent in other European Countries.

Over a dozen private collections and stately houses/mansions/historic buildings have been preserved by being donated to the municipal authority. The municipal authority is obviously stretched to the limit. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of properties in urgent need of restoration and a plan and purpose.

Also good marketing material, the translation to multiple European and other visitor languages, the training and hiring of staff from tourism/museum guide/curator expertise would really help. University Courses of current and future staff!

Huge opportunity for museum experts and organisations with the experience to assist the Municipalities and Culture Ministry to develop the creation of associations and...