Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești
Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești (Romanian pronunciation: [alekˈsandru boɡˈdan piˈteʃtʲ]; born Alexandru Bogdan, also known as Ion Doican, Ion Duican and Al. Dodan; June 13, 1870 – May 12, 1922) was a Romanian Symbolist poet, essayist, and art and literary critic, who was also known as a journalist and left-wing political agitator. A wealthy landowner, he invested his fortune in patronage and art collecting, becoming one of the main local promoters of modern art, and a sponsor of the Romanian Symbolist movement. Together with other Post-Impressionist and Symbolist cultural figures, Bogdan-Pitești established Societatea Ileana, which was one of the first Romanian associations dedicated to promoting the avant-garde and independent art. He was also noted for his friendship with the writers Joris-Karl Huysmans, Alexandru Macedonski, Tudor Arghezi and Mateiu Caragiale, as well as for sponsoring, among others, the painters Ștefan Luchian, Constantin Artachino and Nicolae Vermont. In addition to his literary and political activities, Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești was himself a painter and graphic artist.
Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești | |
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Anonymous sketch of Bogdan-Pitești, 1917 (signed Correggio) | |
| Born | June 13, 1870 Pitești, Principality of Romania |
| Died | May 12, 1922 (aged 51) Bucharest, Kingdom of Romania |
| Pen name | Ion Doican, Ion Duican, Al. Dodan |
| Occupation | poet, journalist, political activist, businessman, visual artist |
| Period | 1880s–1922 |
| Genre | essay, lyric poetry, prose poetry |
| Subject | art criticism, literary criticism |
| Literary movement | Symbolism Modernism |
Much of Bogdan-Pitești's controversial political career, inaugurated by his support for anarchism, was dedicated to activism and support for revolution. He also had an interest in the occult, and maintained close contacts with Joséphin "Sâr" Péladan—sponsoring Péladan's journey to Bucharest (1898). He was detained by the authorities at various intervals, including an arrest for sedition during the 1899 election, and was later found guilty of having blackmailed the banker Aristide Blank. Late in his life, he led Seara, a Germanophile daily, as well as a literary and political circle which came to oppose Romania's entry into World War I on the Entente Powers' side. He was arrested one final time upon the end of the war, by which time he had become the object of public hatred. The enduring mysteries and contradictions of Bogdan-Pitești's career have since drawn interest from several generations of art and literary historians.