a traditionalist, a moderate and a circumspect in applying the new innovations, especially the most radical ones that manifested in those times in plastic art. Thus, he observed the best symbolist experiences and even followed this current, but soon gave up on it. Futurism, cubism, fauvism and other isms did not incite him even on a theoretical level. Significant are the statements he made regarding Marcel Iancu's work: "…I can't disapprove of modernists, even if they are so radical and even if I don't understand them ..." or about modernists "…how much about modern painting with all sorts of names, only those where the essential qualities of good painting dominate. The talented man in all the manifestations of art, as they will be called, does not matter, he will make outstanding works; the helpless will make banging and noise." Identity searches As it is known, Gheorghe Petrașcu had throughout his artistic career fifteen personal exhibits that were scheduled with some regularity, that is a unique case in Romania. In 1900, in December, at the Romanian Athenaeum, the first personal exhibit took place. On this occasion, Petrașcu presented, on cymas, 60 paintings that he had made three or four years before. As a consequence, according to the art critic 1900 was for Petrașcu one that belonged to the 19th century and not to the next one. He also motivated this statement by the fact that most of the paintings he exhibited belonged to the spirit and conception of the previous century. Only thirteen paintings were made in France, being landscapes of Montreuil, the rest having gender, urban, marine, mountain or rural landscapes topics. There were also self-portraits, pastel or oil portraits, but no interiors, still life or flowers. The exhibition of 1900 represented for the art critic the defining element in following the artistic evolution of the Tecuci painter. The topic he displayed at the first exhibit represented for Petrașcu the strength of his subsequent artistic creation. The landscapes' topics were taken throughout life, from a geographical area of a size rarely reached by any other Romanian artist, the number of places found by art historians exceeding seventy. At the level of this year of the first personal exhibitions, the artist did not clarify his vision and did not find the most appropriate formulas of expression. There were many works left in the sketch stage, some of which were tired of