Alexandru Cînean:

ACTING FAUST IN RADU STANCA

Authors: Prof. Univ. Dr. D.h.c. Jan DE MAERE
Dr. Alexandru Sonoc

SIBIU
Publisher Brukenthal National Museum
2016
 publisher: Prof. univ. dr. Sabin adrian luca
Author, coordinator,
BIBLIOTECAand curator: prof. univ. dr. D.h.c. jan de maere
NAŢIONALĂ
A
author and curator: dr. alexandru sonoc CIP nr. 08520/ 04.05.2016
ROMÂNIEI
design and layout: daniel negrea
photography by: Sebastian apostol
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DE MAERE, JAN A painterly Odyssey by Alexandru Cînean
Alexandru Cînean : Acting Faust in Radu Stanca / prof. univ. dr.
D.H.C. Jan De Maere, dr. Alexandru Sonoc ; ed.: prof. univ. dr. Sabin
Adrian Luca. - Sibiu : Editura Muzeului Naţional Brukenthal, 2016 This exhibition in the Contemporary Art department of the After finishing an impressive series of 20 preparative studies
ISBN 978-606-8815-02-2 Brukenthal Museum of Sibiu/Hermannstadt (May-July 2016) is on canvas 50 x50 cm each, expressing his « primo pensiero »,
the result of the open-mindedness of Prof. Dr. Sabin Luca, the he conceived this contemporary painterly project as an
I. Sonoc, Alexandru
energy that Dr. Alexandru Sonoc invested in this project and interrogation on the human soul and the actor, performing his
II. Luca, Sabin Adrian (ed.)
my long- standing collaboration with Radu Stanca Theater personage on canvasses 120 x120 cm.
75(498) Cînean,A.(084) from Sibiu.
Nothing is given without passion. Assisting at a number of
After developing a project in Cluj, three years ago, that representations of the play Faust at Radu Stanca, Cînean
Birou CIP,
explored the subject of the explosion of an atomic bomb documented his project with numerous snapshots, trying to
Mihai Ganciu
and its impact on the integrity of a small building, Alexandru comprehend the art of acting and self-consciousness of the
Cînean, looked for a new artistic challenge. This reflection on performers. Confronting a masterpiece of world literature in an

Notă : the dangers of human intelligence brought him naturally to the innovative way was a challenge to Silviu Purcărete. To translate
Faust project, a conceptual interrogation of multiple identities, this monumental performance in 20 painted images that convey
expressed painterly. his statement about vanity and despair is a task of extreme
complexity for a young artist. 5
Caseta conţinând descrierea CIP a Bibliotecii Naţionale a
României va fireprodusă conform originalului pe verso paginii de
titlu a cărţii respective.
 Alexandru Cînean is fascinated by the inherent double reality
that actors face by confronting their roles with the image of
themselves. He focused on the strong emotions provoked by
desire, lust and the futile pursuit of fame and greatness. He
created images that relate to each other like in a trombinoscope
of doubt about the self.
For one year Alexandru Cînean worked simultaneously on these
twenty large canvasses, focusing from one painting to another,
like a chess master that plays several games at once. The
purpose was to avoid the dominance of painterly technique and
the pursuit of formal beauty. The accomplishment of cognitive
emotional ambiguity in the eye of the beholder is for the artist
an intentional fallacy. Cînean succeeded in destabilising us in
an essential way by his art. How many masks do we wear?
How does the role we play in everyday life affect us and to what
extend? We all aspire to be part of a dramatic story in which we
recognise ourselves as the main actor. The impact of this series
of canvasses is huge due to this clash of identities between
those of the main actors of the play Ofelia Popii, Ilie Gheorhe, the
director Silviu Purcărete, Constantin Chiriac and Cînean’s own
self-perception. This is also due to the manner in which those
aspects are integrated by the astonishing brushwork of this young
talented artist in their own battle of existence between the vanity
of their achievement and the despair of their finitude.
Silviu Purcărete’s reinvention of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s
Faust, initiated by Constantin Chiriac in Radu Stanca Theater
in Sibiu, became one of the milestones in contemporary theatre
history since its creation in 2007. Violent, visceral and dramatic,
Faust is more than a performance. It is a reflection on Love, lust,
death and salvation in the light of human vanity.
Faust and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The Faust legend developed in the 16e century in Europe.
Christopher Marlowe wrote « The Tragic History of Doctor
Faustus ». The writing of this legend by Goethe started when
the author was 20 years old and witnesses his intellectual
evolution for six decades. It is his magnum opus, of which the
first version of the first part was written from 1772 until1788,
and published in 1790. The second version of part I was taken
on in Weimar after the death of his friend Friedrich von Schiller
6 on the stage or in the audience - might be inclined towards
(1805) and published in 1808. Seventeen years later, he started
writing the second part, finished in 1831, when Goethe was 80
years old.
Mephisto and God differ in opinion about mankind. Mephisto
pretends to be able to seduce even the most intelligent human
being to evil. God believes in the final virtue of mankind.
Mephisto selects one of the most intelligent people on earth, Dr.
Faust. Disappointed about the little success in his life and his
weakness to luxury, depressed, Dr. Faust signs a treaty with the
devil to obtain the favours of one of the most desirable woman
in the world: Gretchen. But at the end of the story, he has to
pay his dues to evil. It is the Christian story of human intellectual
vanity, the power of female seduction and the physical presence
of Evil in the world. It is a challenge to the human wisdom and
the superiority of God, a classical Greek drama with a romantic
spectacular under tone.
Member of the German pre-romantic movement Sturm und
Drang, celebrating the Enlightnment, Goethe’s fame was
born out of the success of his book Die Leiden des jungen
Werther’s, who influenced the first part of his Faust play. Faust’s
God has an unconditional trust in the power of Salvation and the
final victory of virtue. So, he allows Mephistopheles to seduce
Dr. Faust to test God and his creation. So Cinean’s oeuvre is
a reflection on the fall of the angels and the Almighty from a
painters point of vieuw.
Thalheim / Daïa, April 4 th , 2016
Prof. univ. Dr. Dhc. Jan DE MAERE
THE FAUSTIAN OPTION OR WHY TO REMOVE THE MASK
Inspired by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s tragedy, Faust,
Alexandru Cînean’s works are dominated by violent tones of red,
with accents of violet, which suggests the intensity of the human
aspiration towards absolute knowledge and unlimited earthly
pleasure, and also its devilish element in the form of an irresistible
temptation to pay off the fulfilment of this Promethean dream with
the huge price of loosing one’s soul. This wrong choice actually
cancelles the possibility of any positive spiritual evolution, the only
one which could truly lead to exceeding man’s mortal condition,
to man’s returning to the heavenly state of the primordial times,
before his ancestors Adam and Eve, banished from the Garden
of Eden, loose eternal life, being under the necessity of having
a better life in a more hostile natural environment. Here, the
decay of their descendants has increased due to the Devil’s
ceaseless cunning exploitation of their aspirations and to the
bitter competition thus generated. This decay, which determined
a continuous dismissal of the serenity of the genesis, is due to
the false knowledge of Good and Evil attained by mankind by
tasting the Forbidden Fruit. A false knowledge which predestined
mankind not to treasure enough the divine gift of the soul, nor the
subsequent Christic guaranty of its salvation, and to easily reject
the possibility of returning to Paradise, thus choosing eternal
damnation, suggested by the black backgrounds, occasionally
ripped by bluish-green emphases, which suggest the tragedy of
the Faustian option. The painter indicates this spiritual blindness
through the plasters on the character’s eyes, by dividing their
faces, which suggests the alteration of personality under the
seizure of devilish passions, also through blood-like stains on the
neck or the cheeks –symbols of the devilish kiss absorbing its
positive, creative energies and applying the seal of damnation.
Similar to a theological discourse, underlying on the Holy
Scripture- both the Old and the New Testament- in Faust,the
feminine character is not only an agent of the Devil’s conspiracy,
of the fall, but also that of the plan of salvation, just as Eve
seduced Adam, Faust is himself blinded by the desire of
knowledge and love, the hope of salvation becomes possible
thanks to Mary, respectively to Gretchen’s prayers. Hence the
two sides of the feminine character: her devilish semblance,
the ambivalence of red which it is associated with, equally
suggesting the intensity of the passion, the constructive and
distructive power of love, the flames of Hell and purification by
fire, corruption and salvation.
But sometimes the duality of the characters underlined by the
feminine and masculine masks has got another meaning: the
hope that under the cover seized by devilish impulses there lays
a human seed fom which salvation might come. Thus,it seems
that the Faustian model gets a general human significance
reminding us that anyone, having a place in the world -either
dangerous compromises in order to fulfill his or her dreams and
passions, yet above all possible mistakes the hope of salvation
remains; and this hope, in Alexandru Cînean’s vision, is due not
only to love, like in the tragedy that inspired his work, but also to
the personal effort to remove the mask, to rediscover the inner
values by denouncing the treaty with the Devil.
Dr. Alexandru Gh. Sonoc
The Legend of Faust
The Faust legend most probably began with the life and works
of an itinerant alchemist, astrologer and magician of early 16th
century southern Germany called Dr Johann Georg Faust. He
was often accused of being a fraud and the Church denounced
him as a blasphemer in league with the devil.
The stories about his life first appeared in 1587 as the « Historia
von D. Johannes Fausten » (known in an English version as the
Faustbook) which became the source for the first known play
about the Faust legend : Marlowe’s « Dr Faustus » performed in
1594 and published ten years later.
Fascination with the story of the world-weary Doctor who sells
his soul to the Devil for a few moments of perfect pleasure led
to a myriad of plays , poetry, classical music, and films over
the succeeding centuries even up to now. Berlioz, Gounod and
Boito all wrote operas on the theme of Faust which are still
performed today.
But by far the most famous play is Goethe’s Faust (Part 1)
published in 1808 which is mandatory school reading in
Germany. After making his pact with Mephistopheles Faust
meets then seduces Margarete (Gretchen), who becomes
pregnant and is arrested for drowning her illegimitate child. She
refuses to escape with Faust who flees with Mephistopheles
and her soul is deemed to be saved by a voice from heaven
« ist gerettet » thus ending on a Christian note showing God has
power over the Devil.
Tony Bernard
7
 Alexandru Cînean, born in 1988, lives and works in Sibiu, Romania. 2005 Young artists program “and European dimension fortress catalog
“directed by Romanian-German University” Sibiu / Romania
After graduating from the Arts High School in Sibiu in 2007, 2005 “International year of physic, promoting physics 1. 50 H x 50 W x 2 cm 10. 3
 4 H x 47 W x 2 cm 20. 1
 20 H x 120 W x 3,5 cm
he attended the University of Art and Design in Cluj-Napoca, through arts”- Sibiu / Romania oil on canvas oil on canvas oil on canvas
where earned a BA in painting in 2010, and an MA in the same 2005 Rusciori / Sibiu / Romania 2015 2015 2015
field in 2012. 2004 “Line, Spot, Structure” Sibiu / Romania
Personal exhibition 2. 5
 0 H x 50 W x 2 cm 11. 1
 20 H x 120 W x 3,5 cm 21. 120 H x 120 W x 3,5 cm
Noted for the quality of his work during the study, he is selected 2016 “Faust: Vanity and Despair” - curated by Prof. Univ. Dr. oil on canvas oil on canvas oil on canvas
for a stay at Academia delle Belle Arti di Torino, Italy in 2008- D.h.c. Jan DE MAERE and Dr. Alexandru Sonoc - Brukenthal 2015 2015 2015
2009 in the European Erasmus Project. In 2011 Alexandru Cinean Contemporary Art Museum / Sibiu - Romania
is again the beneficiary of Erasmus, he chose to undergo a period 2012 “The Animal-Machine”Artyourself Gallery, Bucharest - Romania 3. 50 H x 50 W x 2 cm 12. 120 H x 120 W x 3,5 cm 22. 1
 20 H x 120 W x 3,5 cm
of three months (November 2011-February 2012) in Belgium, at 2007 Gallery X Future, Sibiu / Romania oil on canvas oil on canvas oil on canvas
Thuin Gallery Antecedence / Ephemere. 2015 2015 2015

Awards 4. 50 H x 50 W x 2 cm 13. 120 H x 120 W x 3,5 cm 23. 120 H x 120 W x 3,5 cm
Exhibition  2009 “Concorso Nazionale di Pittura Gaetano Morgese”- Italia oil on canvas oil on canvas oil on canvas
Group Exhibition: 2015 2015 2015
2016 “Equss” - Olsen Irwin Gallery / Australia-Sydney
2015 “OH LIFE” - curated by Kate Smith / Australia- Sydney Other activites 5. 50 H x 50 W x 2 cm 14. 120 H x 120 W x 3,5 cm 24. 1
 20 H x 120 W x 3,5 cm
2015 “Orangerie Flanderhof” - curated by Prof. Univ. Dr. D.h.c. Jan 2016 P
 articipation in the “ International Theatre Festival in Sibiu” Edition 23” oil on canvas oil on canvas oil on canvas
de Maere - Daia / Thalheim- Romania 2006 P
 articipation in the “International Theatre Festival in Sibiu, Edition 13” 2015 2015 2015
2014 “Pour le Plaisir”/ Prix Ephémère”Gallery Antecedence / 2006 Participation in the project “Sibiu Plays Theatre”
Ephemere - Belgium / Thuin 2006 Participation in the campaign “no PVC in the historic town” Sibiu 6. 50 H x 50 W x 2 cm 15. 1
 20 H x 120 W x 3,5 cm 25. 1
 20 H x 120 W x 3,5 cm
2012 Graduated exhibition Expo-Transivania, Cluj-Napoca, Romania 2005 Participation in the unconventional art festival “La Stada theatre” Sibiu oil on canvas oil on canvas oil on canvas
2012 “Affinites Electives, un dialogue Belgo-Roumain” organize 2005 Participation in the unconventional art festival “La Strada theatre” 2015 2015 2015
by Prof.Dr. D.h.c Jan de Maere and Dr. Mihai Oroveanu / Belgium 2005 Participation in the “International Theatre Festival in Sibiu, Edition 12”
emabasy in Romania-Bucharest 2005 Participation in the project “Sibiu Plays Theatre” 7. 50 H x 50 W x 2 cm 16. 120 H x 120 W x 3,5 cm 26. 120 H x 120 W x 3,5 cm
2012 Ensemble with Alexandru Cînean-Galery 2005 Participation in Project Plato “Culture, tradition, tourism oil on canvas oil on canvas oil on canvas
Antecedence / Ephemere-Belgium-Thuin,with support of ICR and arts” Sibiu / Romania 2015 2015 2015
Romania and WBI Belgium
2011 George Enescu-EBiennale - Palace Hall Bucharest, Romania 8. 46 H x 63 W x 2 cm 17. 120 H x 120 W x 3,5 cm
2010 Graduated Transilvania Expo exhibition, Cluj-Napoca, Romania Creative camps oil on canvas oil on canvas
2010 “Girl Talk’’, Casa Matei Gallery, curated by  Vlad Comsa - 2005 Rusciori - Sibiu / Romania 2015 2015
Cluj-Napoca / Romania 2006 Paltiniş - Sibiu / Romania
2010 “Sensual, Erotic, Passionate” Clujest, curated by Andrada  9. 46 H x 63 W x 2 cm 18. 120 H x 120 W x 3,5 cm
Tarța - Cluj-Napoca / Romania - Paintbrush Factory oil on canvas oil on canvas
2009 “Mostra alla fondazione Gaetano Morgese” Bari / Italy 2015 2015
2009 “Codice di ET”, Accademia delle Belle Arti di Torino / Italy
2009 “Scogliere” Accademia delle Belle Arti diTorino -Italy 10. 34 H x 47 W x 2 cm 19. 120 H x 120 W x 3,5 cm
2007 Galeria X Future, Sibiu / Romania oil on canvas oil on canvas
2007 “Attested” Prelude Gallery –Sibiu / Romania 2015 2015
2006 “Spring buds” organized by P.D. Sibiu / Romania
8 2005 Gong Theatre, Festival “La Strada’’ Sibiu / Romania 9
 cat. nr. 2

cat. nr. 1 cat. nr. 3 cat. nr. 8 cat. nr. 9

cat. nr. 5

cat. nr. 4 cat. nr. 6 cat. nr. 10 cat. nr. 11

10 11
cat. nr. 7
 “So ist denn alles, was ihr Sünde,
Zerstörung, kurz, das Böse nennt,
Mein eigentliches Element.”
Vers 1342 / Mephistopheles

12 cat. nr. 12 13
 “Zwei Seelen wohnen, ach! in meiner Brust,
Die eine will sich von der andern trennen.”
Vers 1112 f. / Faust

14 cat. nr. 13 15
 “Ein guter Mensch in seinem dunklen Drange
Ist sich des rechten Weges wohl bewusst.”
Vers 328 f. / Der Herr

16 cat. nr. 14 17
 “Mein schönes Fräulein, darf ich wagen,
Meinen Arm und Geleit Ihr anzutragen?”
Vers 2605 f. / Faust

18 cat. nr. 15 19
 “Ich möcht mich gleich dem Teufel übergeben,
Wenn ich nur selbst kein Teufel wär!”
Vers 2809 ff / Mephistopheles

20 cat. nr. 16 21
 “Heinrich! Mir graut’s vor dir. (Gretchen)
Sie ist gerichtet! (Mephistopheles)
Ist gerettet ! (Stimme von oben)”
Vers 4610

22 cat. nr. 17 23
 “Ich bin der Geist, der stets verneint!
Und das mit Recht; denn alles, was entsteht,
Ist wert, dass es zugrunde geht;”
Vers 1338 / Mephistopheles

24 cat. nr. 18 25
 “Allwissend bin ich nicht; doch viel ist mir bewusst.”
Vers 1582 / Mephistopheles

26 cat. nr. 19 27
 “Von Zeit zu Zeit seh ich den Alten gern
Und hüte mich, mit ihm zu brechen
Es ist garhübsch von einem großen Herrn,
so menschlich mit dem Teufel selbst zu sprechen.”
Vers 350 ff. / Mephistopheles

28 cat. nr. 20 29
“(Ich bin) Ein Teil von jener Kraft,
Die stets das Böse will und stets das Gute schafft.”
Vers 1336 / Mephistopheles

cat. nr. 21
 “Habe nun, ach! Philosophie,
Juristerei und Medizin
Und leider auch Theologie!
Durchaus studiert, mit heißem Bemühn.
Da steh ich nun, ich armer Tor!
Und bin so klug als wie zuvor.”
Vers 354 ff. / Faust

32 cat. nr. 22 33
 “Blut ist ein ganz besondrer Saft.”
Vers 1740 / Mephistopheles

34 cat. nr. 23 35
 “Werd ich zum Augenblicke sagen:
Verweile doch! Du bist so schön!
Dann magst du mich in Fesseln schlagen
dann will ich gern zugrunde gehn!”
Vers 1700 ff. / Faust

36 cat. nr. 24 37
 “Meine Ruh ist hin,
Mein Herz ist schwer;
Ich finde sie nimmer
und nimmermehr.”
Vers 3374 / Gretchen

38 cat. nr. 25 39
 Mr. Constantin Chiriac and Mr. Silviu Purcărete

40 cat. nr. 26 41
ISBN 978-606-8815-02-2