Elena Popovici

Elena Popovici painted official portraits by day and hid her own work under the floorboards. She once handed Nicolae Ceaușescu a birthday gift, the first version of his own portrait, just to survive the 1970s. Her brushstrokes smoothed over the cracks in power, but the real rebellion was elsewhere.

Look for her unsigned “Nicolae Ceaușescu” (1978) in the corner of a print room; the face is flawless, the edges just a little too neat, like a frame holding its breath.