Ion Jalea Sculpture Museum

"ION JALEA" SCULPTURE MUSEUM is located in the historic area of the city, at the end of Elisabeta Boulevard, a few steps from the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul. The institution is hosted by a beautiful building built in Brancovean style at the beginning of the 20th century. Inside the museum are exhibited over 200 beautiful works donated by the sculptor in 1969 and his family in 1984, after his death.
The sculptor Ion Jalea was born on May 19, 1887 in the Tulcea village of Casimcea. Later, his parents move to a village near Constanta (Ciorcarlia de Jos), when the future sculptor connects his destiny forever with the seaside town. In 1899 Ion Jalea started the gymnasium cycle at the "Mircea cel Batran" Boys' Gymnasium.
It is the period in which he discovers his talent for fine arts under the guidance of one of the most famous painters from Constanta of the time. Supported by Constanta City Hall, which grants him a scholarship, Ion Jalea continues his studies in Bucharest, deepening his fine arts. He studied at Paris, where he mentored several well-known masters of fine arts. With Romania's entry into the war, Jalea, who was 30 at the time, returned to her homeland where she enlisted in the army. A year later, the sculptor is seriously injured and, through an irony of fate, loses his left hand.
However, his passion for sculpture managed to overcome the limitations imposed by his disability, and the sculptor continues to "model" his works with one hand.

Throughout his career, Ion Jalea approached very varied thematic areas. His sculptures embody allegorical, mythological scenes, front sketches, popular legends, peasant figures, nudes, portraits, etc. Christianity was among the favorite themes of the Dobrogean sculptor. The evangelists, the statues of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul and the portrait of Saint Pantelimon are just some of the works with a religious theme that can be admired in the museum in Constanta. Also, another powerful source of inspiration springs from its origins, based on rural life. This thematic area includes the works "La arat", "Oameni carand saci", "La plow", "Taranca cu zucchleci", "Femeie cu spic". The sculptor was not limited to materials, his works being made of bronze, plaster, marble and other types of natural stone.
In 1968 Ion Jalea donated 108 of his masterpieces to the Art Museum of Constanta. A small part of them was exhibited in the main building of the museum, the rest of the works can be admired in the Ion Jalea Sculpture Museum.

Among the works exhibited in the two museums in Constanta are self-portraits of the artist, portraits of his parents and two daughters, the portrait of the writer Liviu Rebreanu and a Madonna's head of rare value.
In the basement of the museum that bears the artist's name is another work of overwhelming beauty and importance: a statue 3-4 meters high depicting Queen Elizabeth.
Ion Jalea passed away in 1983 in Bucharest, at the age of 96. After the artist's death, his family donated some of his works to the Constanta museum.