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The “Dumitru I. Grumăzescu” Antiquities Galleries can be seen as an expression of the experiences and passions of the one who has given their name.
In 1992, Dumitru Grumăzescu opened this antique store on Lăpușneanu Street, one of the most circulated streets of Iași, based on over 50 years of experience as a collector.
In the core of the Antique Store are books and literature. The biggest collection of Eminescu volumes, emerged from Dumitru Grumăzescu’s passion for the great poet, can be found here. The Lilliput book collection is unique, the main item being the smallest book in Romania. Its size is 3×3 mm, with Mihai Eminescu’s poem, “Luceafărul” (Evening Star) written inside, which can only be read through a microscope.
The “Grumăzescu” Antique Store can be easily taken for a museum or an art gallery. Paintings and icons decorate the room’s walls, the big portrait of Mihai Eminescu being placed in high regard. The windows of the antique store will make you feel the atmosphere of the past; the multitude of jewellery and valuable decorative objects present here, often reconstitute the specific features of past decades. The collections of mechanical music instruments also speak of long forgotten times.
Numerous exhibitions, book launches or music events are organised in this artistic and cultural universe. A special form of artistic events are the monthly meetings of epigrammatists of Iași, members of the “Păstorel Teodoreanu” Free Academy. The reunions dedicated to satire and humour represent a tradition of over two decades. The “Veronica Micle” poetry hall shelters the fans of the lyric genre, such as the Virtualia poetry club.
The special personality of the antique store is completed by the presence of the first “pocket theatre” in Romania, an unconventional, short, interactive theatre genre. Great actors such as Horațiu Mălăele and Ion Caramitru have evolved on this scene.
The treasures gathered in the “Grumăzescu” Antique Store are offered by their owner to the entire world. The gallery received famous guests such as King Michael I of Romania or the Moldavian poet Grigore Vieru. Mr. Grumăzescu exhibits his collections in numerous exhibitions in the country, but also abroad, being invited to Corsica with a collection on Napoleon’s life. As a matter of fact, Dumitru Grumăzescu plans to arrange his huge collections as a public library.
Flower fight on Lăpușneanu
The event took place until the 1940s, on some summer Sundays, with the purpose of favouring the meetings between the ladies and the gentlemen of the city. A parade of hundreds of girls walked from Traian Hotel towards Copou hill, festively dressed and accompanied by band music. The dressed-up suitors were waiting on the sidewalks, holding flowers, and when a girl liked a gentleman, she accepted him to accompany her on the way; sometimes the girl expressed her attraction by offering a flower to a young man. The event ended with a jolly fight with flowers among the participants, followed with the amusement of the relatives and passers-by, and which, most of the times, led to marriages. The parade of vintage costumes still continues this tradition nowadays.
4. The Galleries of Fine Artists Association, Iași branch