Alexis Macedonski

Alexis Macedonski was a Romanian visual artist, theatrical producer, and political activist, the eldest surviving son of poet-novelist Alexandru Macedonski. The latter enforced his calling for the arts from childhood, with a fragmentary education that was fulfilled in 1909—when Alexis completed the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence. Infused by Symbolism and Impressionism, his early contribution covered religious art, genre paintings, and portraiture, including depictions of Macedonski-father. Both men lived together in France during the early 1910s; this is also where Alexis' half-Argentine son, Soare Macedonski, was born. The family returned to the Kingdom of Romania in 1913, assisting Alexandru in establishing his influence over the local Symbolist movement. Alexis and his wife Solaro helped decorate the poet's salon in the Bucharest neighborhood of Dorobanți, using a performative lavishness that was meant to clash with their material destitution. The father–son collaboration, which also saw them founding a larger "Idealists' Circle" of artists, was only interrupted during the second half of World War I: while Macedonski Sr preferred to remain in occupied territory and give a measure of support to the Central Powers, Alexis continued to fight alongside the Romanian Land Forces in besieged Western Moldavia, and was recognized by the loyalist authorities as an official war artist.