during the 1920s, he was a member of the "arta română" group (alongside gheorghe petraşcu and others). his commitment to social commentary is best perceivable in his graphic work, malicious and sometimes dramatical — he sketched for many contemporary, usually political and leftist, magazines: "socialismul" (official voice of the short-lived socialist party of romania), "adevărul", "flacăra", "hiena", "rampa", and scarlat callimachi's "clopotul" —, and in his articles (including the ones in "viaţa românească" and "curentul"), which mainly discussed cultural and social events. he became close to the writer and activist gala galaction, whose book "o lume nouă" he illustrated in 1919, and whose portrait ("the man of a new world") he painted one year later. his first catalog, issued in 1920, was prefaced by the poet and art critic tudor arghezi.