His father was a landowner who held several local political offices. After attending the
Matei Basarab High School in Bucharest, he graduated from the
Law Faculty in
Iași in 1914. During
World War I, he went against his family's wishes and gave up a promising legal career to become an artist. He and his father were never reconciled. After the war, in 1919, he sold most of his belongings and went to Paris, where he enrolled at the
Académie Julian; studying with
Othon Friesz and
Maurice Denis. He also came under the influence of
Les Nabis. His début was at the
Salon in 1920 and it received good reviews from the press. In 1927, he and his friend, , spent their time painting in villages on the banks of the
Siret. From 1928 to 1939, he was a regular exhibitor at the Official Bucharest Salon. Although he painted numerous
still-lifes, landscapes with villages remained his speciality. He was particularly fond of
Sighișoara and other small towns in
Transylvania. He also spent time in the Bulgarian seaside resort of
Balchik and occasionally went to
Brittany. In 1929, he won a gold medal at the
Barcelona International Exposition. From 1933 to 1934, he was custodian at the new Municipal Art Gallery in Bucharest. For several years, he taught at a private art school. He always led a disorganized,
Bohemian lifestyle. His last years were marked by intense physical and mental suffering from unspecified conditions. In 1939, he stayed briefly at a sanatorium in
Cluj and committed suicide by shooting himself later that year at his family's residence in Bucharest. ==Selected paintings==