visit and its importance. Th. Enescu describes its impact as "amazing", since Péladan was merely an "unusual [funambulesc in the original] representative of French culture". He also proposes that the reception, with its "noisy" and "exacerbated" fanfare, shows the "complexes of a provincial culture, confronted with the promiscuous exorbitance of a great culture". This assessment is quoted by literary historian Paul Cernat, who also notes Péladan's "rather modest value" should not have allowed such reactions. Cernat concedes that the Péladan visit was important for promoting new cultural trends, specifically the notions of art for art's sake and decadence, even though this was done "through the means of politics [italics in the original]". Cultural historian Angelo Mitchievici proposes that, modelling himself on Péladan, Bogdan-Pitești was becoming the "spinmeister" of oriental Symbolism. As Ion Doican (or Duican), he contributed to Ileana essays praising various contemporary painters: Arthur Verona, George Demetrescu Mirea, and, most of all, Luchian. Ileana only published a few issues before closing down in 1901. Bogdan-Pitești's collaborator Bacalbașa, known by then as a dramatist, also attended, but drifted away from the group in 1900, giving up his position as editor of Ileana. A similar split occurred between Luchian and his patron, sparked when Bogdan-Pitești made some favorable comments on Stăncescu's work, and probably took several years to mend. Over that decade, Bogdan-Pitești had also become one of Literatoruls main financial backers. Writing in 1910, at a time when Romanian art came to be me more familiar with new artistic trends (including Cubism and Fauvism, both advocated locally by art critic Theodor Cornel), Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești adapted his discourse to the new trends. The art patron, who probably exercised considerable influence over Cornel, publicly complained that, instead of keeping up with the times, his fellow Romanian intellectuals still regarded Impressionism as the ultimate novelty. On the occasion, he hailed the Post-Impressionist French artists Paul Gauguin and Paul Cézanne as the models to follow. He was actively seeking to mend his split with Luchian, and, although he called the painter "inconsistent", again stated that he found him to be Romania's best young artist. Slatina revolt and Vlaici colony After his return to Romania, Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești was still noted for his political activities, although these shifted to the background during his Ileana years. According to some reports, he spent some of his free time touring the countryside, rallying up peasants, inciting them to rebel,