Boys’ Night Out: Immersed in Monet and Matisse

Monet and Matisse caught my eye on the invitation.

A corporate communications officer for ING Bank Romania, the Bucharest-based subsidiary of the large Dutch bank, came across my Substack and was kind enough to invite me to a sneak preview event ahead of the grand opening of MINA Timișoara – Museum of Immersive New Art, a venue at the nexus of art and technology. (The bank is the principal sponsor; thanks, Dana.)

I’d heard of MINA Bucharest, which is the largest new media art center in Romania and Southeast Europe with more than 2,500 square meters (nearly 27,000 square feet). It’s also expanded beyond the bustling capital with smaller outposts in the major Romanian cities of Cluj-Napoca, Iași and now Timișoara, after hosting pop-up shows in the past – and crossed the border into Bulgaria with a museum in Sofia, the capital.

I love art but I’m no expert on it. A few years ago, I kept hearing about the Van Gogh Immersive Experience, a global phenomenon seen by millions, but I didn’t manage to get there, even when it came to Romania. But this techie twist on the French early-modern duo sounded intriguing – “an immersive journey into Claude Monet’s impressionist universe with 160 of his works” and a “tribute to the iconic Romanian blouse featuring over 100 works by Henri Matisse.”

I’m fortunate to have seen many of Monet’s original works in Paris at Musée de l’Orangerie and Musée d’Orsay, one of my all-time favorite museums, and back home in America at the Art Institute of Chicago and the National Gallery of Art in Washington. Likewise, I’ve admired Matisse’s bold hues on exhibit at Paris’s Centre Pompidou and New York’s Museum of Modern Art.

I could bring a guest so after ensuring that the event was kid-friendly, I chose my son, who’s in first grade and always up for an adventure. Boys’ night out was a good chance for bonding and would give my wife a dose of free time. My son was keen to don his snazzy new sport coat so I put one on too, and off we went on Wednesday evening.

Upon entering the museum, which for now is in a warehouse-like tent but feeling hip with beanbag seats, there was a projected image of Matisse’s 1940 La Blouse Roumaine (The Romanian Blouse), depicting a woman in a blue skirt and an elegantly embroidered white top with motifs in several shades. Known as ie (pronounced ee-eh), the traditional Romanian folk costume is recognized by UNESCO as a symbol of cultural identity. Matisse was fascinated by the ie, which holds a special place in the hearts of Romanians and is a source of national pride, especially with numerous top fashion houses including Louis Vuitton, Dior and Yves-Saint Laurent having used it for inspiration in their luxury clothing over the years. In the case of the former, it led to accusations in 2024 of copycatting original designs without credit and an ensuing backlash, which ended with Louis Vuitton issuing a formal apology and withdrawing the Romanian-style articles from its ultra-high-end collection. Win for Romania.

Inside the darkened exhibit hall, the audience is treated to a 360-degree sensory experience of wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling images, punctuated by rapid fluidity, using projection mapping and almost vertigo-inducing imagery, a melding of contemporary art and cutting-edge technology set to diverse music, from classical to chill to jazz, created by the MINA Studios team.

We were delighted to see more than a dozen kids in the audience, though not surprising for family-focused Romania. Like other kids, my son was happy to find the open bar with soft drinks (and well-chosen Romanian wines) so he could have a Fanta Orange on a school night. I opted for a Schweppes tonic water.

The Monet part of the show is divided into 11 thematic chapters that offer visual insight, accompanied by flashing words and messages, into the painter’s artistic evolution in Impressionism and his personal life, particularly at his beloved Giverny in Normandy. Naturally, Nymphéas (Water Lilies) makes a cameo. As MINA puts it, “Throughout the show, fluid transitions from his paintings into 3D environments recreate the real landscapes that inspired Monet, offering a new and profound perspective on how the artist viewed the world.”

Then comes Matisse, whose Fauvism and playful, daring use of color ignites the room. Of course, La Blouse Roumaine emerges as the star as the Romanian crowd hurriedly filmed on their cell phones, snapping pics and selfies before other images appeared. Interestingly, the original masterpiece was recently on loan for a few months from Centre Pompidou to the National Museum of Art in Bucharest.

Since going, I did a bit of research on immersive art worldwide. Some critics deride it as commercially driven and designed for social media – there’s no denying its Instagrammable appeal – that is, gimmicky hype over artistic value. Purists may view it that way but it’s also a means to make far-flung art more accessible and appetizing, especially as an introduction for kids. I see that as a net positive.

Yesterday, the museum officially opened with the Monet/Matisse show and ones on Ancient Egypt and Dinosaurs. Talk about kid-friendly. The creators already have MINA Kids in Bucharest with an interactive, educational-driven learning space and soon there will be one in Timișoara.

I’m still old-school enough to prefer traditional museums, which my son will have plenty of time to discover, more than he has already, but this was a cool experience without complete overload, albeit close. He also held his own chatting with corporate types and journalists we bumped into. For now, I’m glad to have exposed him to two of the French masters and chalked up another little memory.

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