Florin Mitroi Romanian, 1938-2002

Florin Mitroi was born in 1938 in Craiova, in the south-western part of Romania. He lived and worked in Bucharest until his death in 2002, at the age of 64. He received his BA in painting from the Nicolae Grigorescu Institute of Fine Arts, Bucharest, in 1961. This university in particular, and teaching in general, were a constant in Mitroi's life. Enrolled as a student in 1955, he received a position as an assistant in 1961 and eventually became a professor in 1992, a role he carried out until his final days. Some of the best-known Romanian artists active today were his students. 

Florin Mitroi was a passionate teacher, but a reserved individual. His role in the arts school was well known by the local scene, but few knew his art too-he had only one solo exhibition during his lifetime, in 1993 at Catacomba in Bucharest. Only after his death and the discovery of numerous works in his studio, did his prolific production became apparent.

Mitroi's institutional solo exhibitions include:  Studiosaurus Ferox. Florin Mitroi, Works of Art 1974-2002, (2019), Esther Schipper Galerie Berlin, Florin Mitroi, Craiova Art Museum, Craiova (2018), Florin Mitroi: Cuts, Johnen Galerie, Berlin (2014); Florin Mitroi, Johnen Galerie, Berlin (2011), Florin Mitroi, Contemporary Art Gallery of Brukental National Museum, Sibiu (2008) and Florin Mitroi, Catacomba Gallery, Bucharest (1993).

The artist's works have been shown in numerous group exhibitions, among which: Fragment of an Infinite Discourse - Gegenwartskunst aus dem Lenbachhaus, 28.06.2023 - 27.06.2024, Portraits, Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle, Munich, 2021, Espace Niemeyer, Paris and at La Kunsthalle - Centre d'art contemporain, Mulhouse in February 2019, Ex-East. Past and recent stories of the Romanian avant-garde, Art Encounters Foundation Timișoara, 2019, Lolo's Entanglements, Culturhuuis de Warande, Warande (2018-19); Hell's Heaven, MARe - Muzeul de Artă Recentă, Bucharest (2018); Salon der Angst, Kunsthalle, Vienna (2013); Biennial of Painting: The Image of Man, Museum Dhont-Dhaenens (2012); The self-punishing one. Ştefan Bertalan, Florin Mitroi, Ion Grigorescu: Art and Romania, 1980-1990, Mogoşoaia Palace, Bucharest (2009) traveling to The Museum of Art, Timişoara (2009) and The Museum of Art, Cluj (2009), and Transitionland, The National Museum of Art, Bucharest (2000-01).

Florin Mitroi has received several awards and prizes in his career, including: The Jury Prize of the Sofia Triennale (1985), the Italian Government Grant (1983) and the Painting Prize from The Union of Romanian Artists (1978). Works by Florin Mitroi are in the collections of major museums, such as Centre Pompidou Paris and Lenbachhaus Munich.