Ștefan Luchian Art Galleries (Galeriile de Artă Ștefan Luchian) are the art galleries of the Botoșani County Museum, presenting works from the museum’s art collection alongside temporary exhibitions by Romanian artists. Named after painter Ștefan Luchian, who was born in Botoșani County, the galleries grew from the city’s first public art collection established in 1960.
The collection began with a relatively small group of paintings and sculptures assembled through the efforts of teacher Ileana Turușancu and painter Eugen Ispir. It expanded steadily through purchases and donations, including 45 works given in 1977 by musician Vasile Filip. That donation brought paintings by artists such as Theodor Pallady, Nicolae Tonitza, Gheorghe Petrașcu, Camil Ressu, Rudolf Schweitzer-Cumpăna and Jean Alexandru Steriadi into the museum.
Today, the County Museum’s art holdings number more than 2,000 works and include painting, sculpture and tapestry. Ștefan Luchian is represented alongside Nicolae Grigorescu, Ion Andreescu and other major Romanian artists, while painters and sculptors from Botoșani and the surrounding region form another substantial part of the collection.
The gallery spaces are also used for changing exhibitions, including solo and group shows by contemporary artists as well as exhibitions assembled from the museum’s own holdings.
