Tablou ulei pe pânză, „Elena Ceaușescu”, atribuit lui Ioan Florea, nedatat. Elena Ceaușescu îmbrăcată într-o haină de blană, este reprezentată pe un covor cu motive tradiționale din zona Mehedinți, pe fundal un combinat petrochimic, ținând în mâna dreaptă o garoafă roșie, iar în mâna stângă o carte (probabil lucrarea sa de doctorat). Tablou comandat de Comitetul Județean de Partid Mehedinți și oferit Elenei Ceaușescu cu ocazia aniversării vârstei de 70 de ani (ianuarie 1989).

The painting employs a realistic rendering of the figure, with careful attention to texture in the fur and fabric. The background, however, merges a painterly industrial scene with a stylized carpet, creating a surreal spatial disjunction. Colors are deliberately contrasted—vibrant red and gold against muted grays and browns—to direct focus to the subject. The composition resembles official portraiture of the era, prioritizing symbolism over naturalistic depth.

Commissioned by the Mehedinți County Party Committee, the portrait was presented as a ceremonial gift during Elena Ceaușescu’s 70th birthday celebration in January 1989. Its creation was part of a broader state-driven effort to cultivate her public image. After the 1989 revolution, the painting was likely seized or transferred to state custody, though its current location remains unconfirmed in public records.

The portrait emerged during the final years of communist Romania, when state-sponsored art increasingly served personality cults. Official portraits of Elena Ceaușescu often combined themes of intellect, maternal authority, and industrial progress. This work reflects the regime’s attempt to anchor her legitimacy in regional tradition, academic achievement, and economic modernization—all while distancing her from the brutality of the state apparatus.

The painting stands as a relic of a political system that used visual culture to construct mythic identities. Its stylistic contradictions—realism fused with symbolic fantasy—highlight the tension between state propaganda and artistic autonomy. Today, it is studied less as art and more as a document of ideological performance, illustrating how power was visually encoded in late communist Romania.