Later in 1898, back in Romania, Bogdan-Pitești and the other "Salonul Independenților" initiators joined up with author Ioan Bacalbașa and architect Ștefan Ciocâlteu. This diverse group established "Societatea Ileana", an association dedicated to supporting innovative artists. Its steering committee was later joined by the intellectual and political figures Constantin Rădulescu-Motru, Nicolae Xenopol, and Nicolae Filipescu, as well as by the painter Jean Alexandru Steriadi. The society took up the effort to uproot against academic salons, organizing a large and provocative exhibit in 1898, and, at the height of its popularity, enlisted in its ranks some 300 people. Despite such consolidation, various "Ileana" affiliates were not entirely committed to the cause, and never severed their links with Stănescu's official section.