Article from Libertatea - 21.08.2018  

Monsieur Naturel, the French collector in love with Romania. He exhibited a sculpture by Salvador Dali in the yard!

   Well-known art dealer and collector Jean Naturel exhibited for the first time the entire collection of paintings and sculptures. They have been bought or received for over 40 years, during which time he has brokered numerous transactions with works of art. "My passion for art began many years ago. It started when I was 17-18 years old, it started by collecting mainly drawings from the 16th - 17th centuries. I became an impressionist and a post-impressionist and fell in love with modernists and contemporaries ", says Jean Naturel about his passion for art. He came into possession of a large bronze sculpture made by Salvador Dali in 1974, which embodies the emperor Trajan of Rome.

   Jean Naturel is a French art collector, in love with Romania, who decided to exhibit in Bucharest the sculpture " Trajan à Cheval ", made by Salvador Dali in 1974 "Dali is an extraordinary artist, and this piece belongs to Romanian culture. This sculpture can be considered monumental and represents Trajan on horseback. The exhibition will remain open to the public until September 30, instead, this sculpture of Dali will leave in September in an exhibition that will take place in southern Italy. And after the exhibition in southern Italy, which will take place in September, the sculpture must go to Seoul ", says Jean Naturel, in French, while his daughter, Charlotte, translates into Romanian almost simultaneously.

   Jean Naturel exhibited his entire collection of art objects in a historic, refurbished building on Silvestru Street no. 3, from Bucharest The whole family is passionate about art and especially about the promotion and perpetuation of culture. They bought a historic house in Bucharest, on Silvestru street number 3, which they refurbished with the help of some young Romanian architects. The building has been transformed into a Chinese restaurant, but many traditional Asian cultural elements have been inserted inside the house.

   His passion for art was also inherited by Charlotte, Jean Naturel's youngest daughter, who helped him with the translation and took care of every detail of the exhibition. He has just graduated in Law in France and works as a notary in Paris. And in his free time, he deals with art and helps his father with everything related to valuations of important collections and transactions with art objects. "My father did not make any sacrifice, because a collection is made in time, for a very important period. In the case of my father, who started collecting at a fairly young age, he bought a piece, and sold it 10-15 years later, multiplying this capital by 20, which allowed him to continue to buy other more important works. I try to follow him and I try to learn from him everything I can, so that I can continue to appreciate all the pieces that he is able to recognize from afar. Now we have to see how he will shape me so that I can fully inherit this passion and all his knowledge ", said Charlotte Naturel, but not before admitting that his main passion is Law, so he will not give up the activity in the field legally to devote himself entirely to art.

   Charlotte Naturel now lives in Paris, but she is proud of the fact that she was born in Romania and even though she also has French citizenship, she tells everyone that she is Romanian Charlotte loves Romania, and since she left for Paris, although she also has French citizenship, she tells them to all that she is Romanian. Which, not infrequently, says the young woman, made the foreigners she talked to raise an eyebrow, because most of them have a preconceived idea about Romanians. "Every time someone asks me where I am from, who I am, I tell them I am Romanian, I tell them I come from Romania. And I'm proud of that. Although I also have French citizenship, I brag that I am Romanian. And, yes, I have been looked at with astonishment many times, because many have this preconceived notion that Romanians are thieves, beggars, criminals, and so on. And I want to show them that this is not the case ", explains the young woman.

  Jean Naturel is also in love with Romania, with the traditions of our country and with the people here. He considers that in Romania there is everything a man could want. "People are adorable, very pleasant, Romanian culture is very interesting, the country is beautiful, what more do you want?", Naturel asks rhetorically, a question by which the Frenchman explains why Romania is his new home.