Artwork

Sequences from the Village Museum, naive painting by Petru Mihuțe - New Year’s Habit (1988)

Ioan George Andron , 1988

Sequences from the Village Museum, naive painting by Petru Mihuțe - New Year’s Habit (1988) is an unspecified painting by the Naïve art artist Ioan George Andron. It dates from 1988 and is held in the collection of the "Dimitrie Gusti" National Village Museum. Petru Mihuțe’s 1988 work “New Year’s Habit” captures a winter celebration in a Romanian village.

About this work

Overview

Petru Mihuțe’s 1988 work “New Year’s Habit” captures a winter celebration in a Romanian village. Rendered in vivid, flat tones, the scene depicts villagers dancing in a snow‑covered square, dressed in colorful traditional costumes and animal masks, while a fiddler provides music and children watch from their coats.

Subject & Meaning

The painting illustrates the customary New Year’s Eve ritual known as the “Plugusorul,” a procession that traditionally greets the coming spring. By portraying this communal rite, Mihuțe emphasizes the continuity of folk customs and the collective joy of rural life.

Technique & Style

Created without formal academic training, the work belongs to the naive art tradition, characterized by straightforward composition, bold color fields, and a lack of perspective. Mihuțe relies on memory and personal feeling, rendering details in a simplified, narrative manner that conveys immediacy.

History & Provenance

Born in 1927 in Brusturi, Arad County, Mihuțe began painting in his fifties after a career as a farmer. “New Year’s Habit” entered the collection of the Museum of Ethnography in Bucharest, where it remains on display as part of the institution’s focus on Romanian folk culture.

Context

The artwork reflects the broader Romanian naive movement, which emerged in the mid‑20th century as self‑taught artists depicted rural life and traditions. Mihuțe’s focus on seasonal rituals aligns with contemporaneous efforts to preserve and celebrate regional customs amid rapid social change.