Nicolae Popescu

Nicolae Popescu’s self-portraits always feel like he’s just stepped out of a café in Bucharest, where he spent his evenings sketching passersby on whatever scrap of paper was handy. The 1862 print “Portretul unui tânăr” shows a face half in shadow, as if the young sitter couldn’t be bothered to sit still. In Gallery Tiles you’ll find that print hanging next to the café’s doorway it probably came from—the same place where Popescu traded drawings for coffee and gossip.