Horia Damian was a prominent Romanian-born French painter and sculptor. He initially studied architecture before transitioning to the arts. He exhibited for the first time at the Official Salon in 1941, where he obtained the Engraving Award, and held his first solo exhibition in 1942.

In 1946, he moved to Paris, where he studied under notable artists like André Lhote and Fernand Léger. In addition to painting, he was also a skilled muralist and worked on numerous public art projects.

Throughout his life, Horia Damian remained deeply engaged with the Romanian art scene, contributing to various artistic communities and mentoring young artists. Damian’s pieces have been part of many exhibitions and collections around the world, including in the National Museum of Art, Bucharest; the Musée Fabre, Montpellier; the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; The Venice Biennale; Documenta, Kassel; the Grand Palais, Paris; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; the Museum of Modern Art, Rio de Janeiro; Neue Galerie, Aachen; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; the Bridgestone Museum, Tokyo; and the Leo Castelli Gallery.

Damian was honored as an honorary member of the Romanian Academy in 1993 and continued to exhibit his work internationally until his death in Paris on May 13, 2012.