Craftsmen Museum Nicolae Popa

When we are already in Targu Neamt, to reach Petricani, we use DJ155 Targu Neamt – Petricani – Topolita, 7 km. From the center of Petricani, we swerve left to Târpești, and finally, after about 3 km we reach the craftsman Museum Nicolae Popa. Nicolae Popa was born on August 13th, 1919, in Târpești Village, Petricani Commune, Neamt County and died on October 20th, 2010, in his native village. Former student of the priest Constantin Mătasă from the school of church musicians in the city of Piatra Neamț.

From childhood he was attracted to the sculpture in wood and sandstone, working especially faces of our Dacians and Romans ancestors. Through the naive lines and style approached, his sculptures are strikingly similar approached to those of the far away Easter Island.

Starting from the year ’65, we note Neculai Popa’s debut as a naive sculptor. Participates in the year 1967, in numerous exhibitions personal and group, exhibitions zonal, national and international, and in particular to competitions of naive art and folklore festivals. In the country, his work (sculptures and masks) have been presented, among other things, in Bacau, Bucharest, Piatra Neamt, Curtea de Arges, Iassy, Mamaia, Constanta, Slanic Moldova, Mangalia. Abroad, sculptures and popular masks created by him have been valued at its best in Czechoslovakia, Italy, Poland, Yugoslavia, France, Switzerland, West Germany., Argentina, U.S.A., Mexico, Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands, Mongolia, China, U. R. S. S, Sweden, France, Japan, Canada, Bulgaria. As a result, in the year 1972, we note the first groups of foreign tourists who want to visit your house creator in Tarpesti. In the year 1976, near The House Masks, is inaugurated a building which lodges museum collections made from its own resources, the largest private museum in Romania, a holiday for the traditions and customs, presented in vivid color, unequalled.