ColoRo English : Val Munteanu

[Valeriu Munteanu]

February 7, 1927, Bucharest - 1996

Legal Studies (1945-1949). Self-taught in art, Val Munteanu debuted in 1946 with illustrations and cartoons in the newspapers of the "newly appointed" red glaciation. Starting with 1949 he begun participating in the annual graphics salons, becoming a household name that will span a career of over 50 years, covering all territories in graphic arts: cartoon, press and book illustration, poster & advertising graphics, layout books and magazines, stamps, easel graphics, decorative arts - an entire Val Munteanu continent , probably the most prolific postwar Romanian artist.

The first years of his artistic career, modulated by communist dogma archetypes, are consumed with press illustrations in various journals propaganda, and cartoons, published mostly in the satirical magazine Urzica, in a conformist, dull, artificial style, then, in the mid 50s, taking advantage of a weak ideological relaxation begins to crystallize his own style, with emotional graphic expressions and extravagant decorative compositions, reaching in the 70s and 80s, when he mainly illustrated fairy tales and folk tales, a hieratic geometrism that became a hallmark style which propeled Val Munteanu into the panoply of artists recognized without the aid of signature.

In Romania he received multiple awards: The UAP award for graphics (1959, 1964), UNESCO National Commission Prize Poster (1962, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1973), The award for illustration given by the Socialist Culture and Education Council (1969, 1971, 1973).

He had participated in major international exhibitions of book illustration in Bologna, Brno, Bratislava, Belgrade, Moscow, Lepzig, where his art was appreciated by many awards - Distinction in poster competition "World Peace", Berlin (1960), Gold Medal - Leipzig (1965), silver and bronze medal at the International Book Fair, Moscow (1967), Diploma of Honor at the annual contest "The most beautiful book in the world", Leipzig (1967), Grafico Prize at the International Book Fair for Children and Youth, Bologna (1968), bronze medal in the annual "Most beautiful books in the world", Leipzig (1969), Diploma of Honor "L'Aigle d'or pour le meilleur livre", Nice ( 1969), First Prize in the competition "The most beautiful book in the world", Moscow (1970), first prize in the contest "The most beautiful book in the world", Leipzig (1971), silver and bronze medal at the International Book Fair, Moscow (1975), Diploma of honor in the contest "The most beautiful book in the world", Leipzig (1976), gold medal and silver medal at the International Art Book Fair, IBA, Bratislava (1979), Gold Plaque at the International Biennial Illustration for Children, Leipzig (1979), Diploma of Honor at the contest "The most beautiful book in the world", Leipzig (1982), silver medal, two bronze medals and honorable mention at the International Book Fair, Bratislava (1982).

Solo exhibitions: Bucharest - 1963 (book illustration), 1964 (cycle of illustrations "Shakespeare-Theatre"), 1967 (cycle of illustrations "The Sun and The Moon"), 1973 (book illustration) New York - Romanian Library Gallery ( 1974 -1975). He displayed posters in thematic exhibitions in Italy (1958), Canada (1959), Germany (1960).

In the early 60's he conceived the layout for the daily journal Romania Libera and Roumanie d'aujourd'hui and Art magazines. He was artistic advisor for the Book Central of C.C.E.S. He collaborated especially with Minerva, Tineretului and Ion Creanga publishers.

In 1982 he painted the curtain for 'Maria Filotti' theater in Braila, and in 1993, with the occasion of The Romanian Postage Stamp Day, a stamp made by Val Munteanu was issued.

1954

Tânărul englez - Wilhelm Hauff (Ed. Tineretului)

(traducere: Lili Soare)

1955

Ein kurzweilig Lesen von Till Eulenspiegel - (Ed. Ion Creangă Verlag)

[cop. & il. color]

1957

Basmele isteţilor - Eugen B Marian (Ed. Tineretului)
[cop. & il. a/n]

Şerfi - 6 povestiri adevǎrate pentru copii cuminţi şi puţin cuminţi - Ioana Postelnicu (Ed. Tineretului)

[cop. color & il. a/n]

1961

Povestea lui Stan Păţitul şi alte poveşti şi povestiri - Ion Creangă (Ed Ion Creangă)

Motanul încălţat - Charles Perrault (Ed. Tineretului)

[cop. & il. color]

1962

Prâslea cel voinic şi merele de aur - Petre Ispirescu (Editura pentru literatură)
[cop. color & il. a/n]

Asta-i cartea cu poveşti - Al Gheorghiu-Pogoneşti (Ed. Tineretului)

[cop. color & il. la două culori]

Papucarul vrăjitor - Virgil Chiriac (Ed. Tineretului)

1963

Balaurul alb - Profira Sadoveanu (Ed. Tineretului)

[cop. & il. color]

1964

Soarele şi luna: balade populare româneşti - Valeriu Munteanu (Ed. pentru literatură)

[cop. & il. color]

1966

Omul de piatră: basme - Victor Eftimiu (Ed. Tineretului)

[cop. & il. color]

1967

La izvorul cu pietre albastre - Eugenia Adam Roşca (Ed. Tineretului)

[cop. color & il. la două culori]

1968

Cuhulin viteazul din Ulster - Simona Drăghici (Ed. Tineretului)

[cop. & il. color]

1969
Miul Corbul - culegere de versuri populare (Ed. Tineretului)

1971

Albă-ca-Zăpada - Jacob Grimm, Wilhelm Grimm (Ed. Ceres)

1972

Tinereţe fără bătrâneţe şi viaţă fără de moarte - basme populare româneşti (Ed. Minerva)

1973

Das Märchen vom Weissen Mohren - Ion Creangă (Ion Creangă Verlag)

1974

Minunatele isprăvi ale vestitutului cavaler Don Quijote - Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (Ed. Ion Creangă)

Povestea lui Harap Alb - Ion Creangă (Ed. Ion Creangă)

Blumenpeter - Else Kornis (Jugendverlag)

1975

Poveşti populare româneşti şi săseşti - Alexandru Mitru (Ed. Ion Creangă)

Zâna Onda: basme clasice germane - (Ed. Ion Creangă)

Pinocchio: povesta unei păpuşi de lemn - Carlo Collodi (Ed. Ion Creangă)

(traducere: Dumitru D. Panaitescu)

1976

Prinţ şi cerşetor - Mark Twain (Ed. Ion Creangă, Colectia BPTC, nr. 51, ediţia a IIa 1986, ediţia a III-a 1991)
(traducere: Eugen B. Marian; prefaţă de Petre Solomon)

[cop. color & il monocromie + o planşă color]

1977

A sellö hatalmában: német klasszikus mesék -György Szegö (Ed. Ion Creangă)

1978

Pinocchio - Carlo Collodi (Bayreuth: Loewe)

(lb. germană)

Logodnica lui Pinocchio - Scotti-Berni Ugo (Ed. Ion Creangă)

Extraordinarele aventuri ale lui Tartarin din Tarascon - Alphonse Daudet (Ed. Ion Creangă)

(traducere:Ileana Vulpescu)

1980

Aventurile şahului - Mihail Sadoveanu (Ed. Ion Creangă)

Din stihurile jupânului François Villon - François Villon

(traducere: Alexandru Alexianu)

1981

Poveşti cu zâne - Charles Perrault (Ed. Creangă)

(traducere: Sarina Cassvan)

1982

Povestea vorbii - Anton Pann (Ed. Minerva)

1983

În ţara legendelor - Alexandru Mitru (Ed. Ion Creangă)

Piticul Cinabru: o poveste - E. T. A. Hoffmann (Ed. Ion Creangă, Colecţia "Prima mea bibliotecă")

(traducere: Al. Philippide)

Pinocchio - Carlo Collodi, Ingamaj Beck (Uddevalla: Niloe)
(lb. suedeză)

The adventures of Pinocchio - Carlo Collodi (London: Roydon)

Die schöne Rora : Märchen aus Rumänien, Buchausst - Albrecht Zweier (Bayreuth: Gondrom)

Der Wunschring - Hedi Hauser (Ed. Kriterion)

1984

Abenteuer rund ums Schachbrett - Mihail Sadoveanu (Ed. Ion Creangă)

Horea - Aron Cotruş (Ed. Ion Creangă)

1985

Din basmele Africii - repovestite de Cristina Petrescu (Ed. Ion Creangă)

Călătoriile lui Făt Frumos - Al. Mitru (Ed. Junimea)

Basme - Vladimir Colin (Ed. Ion Creangă)

1986

Poveşti ardeleneşti: basme legende, snoave, tradiţii şi povestiri - Vasile Netea, Ion Pop-Reteganul (Ed. Minerva)

1988

Din cele mai frumoase basme ale lumii - Ioana Ricus (Ed. Ion Creangă)

Basme populare din Ţara Galilor (Ed. Junimea)

1989

Viaţa nemaipomenită a marelui Gargantua tatăl lui Pantagruel & uimitoarea viaţă a lui Pantagruel feciorul uriaşului Gargantua - François Rabelais (Ed. Ion Creanga)
(traducere: Ileana Vulpescu; Romulus Vulpescu)

Der kleine Lord - Frances Hodgson Burnett (Bindlach: Loewe)

1991

Legende populare româneşti - Ioan Şerb (Ed.Minerva)

Întâmplările şi faptele de pomină ale năzdrăvanului Til Buhoglindă - Al. Alexianu (Ed. Arta Grafică)

Cele două roze: povestiri după William Shakespeare - Mihnea Gheorghiu (Ed. Junior Club)

Povestiri din Canterbury - Geoffrey Chaucer (Ed. Arta Grafică)