April Theses
Former protégé Agopian assessed that, as late as the 1980s, Paul Georgescu had "the aura of an inffalible critic." The new parameters of his criticism became evident in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Before the "April Theses" put an end to liberalization, Georgescu joined a new wave of anthologists and commentators openly engaged in the recovery of modernism, or calling for artistic innovation (among them were Alexandru Ivasiuc, Adrian Marino, Sașa Pană and Eugen Simion). He was also revisiting the legacy of "Junimea", contributing the preface to a 1967 complete edition of Maiorescu's essays. The piece focused on Maiorescu's expansion of the "art for art's sake" principle, his belief that truth and beauty were opposed to each other, and his move from the rejection of literary patriotism to the praise of Romanian folklore as an aesthetic model. Georgescu's colleague Zigu Ornea called the study "excellent", commenting that it "has restored many truths about the great critic [Maiorescu]'s work."