During this time, he had the opportunity to work alongside Henri Coandă as apprentice in sculpture in Auguste Rodin's atelier, after which he continued his studies at Antoine Bourdelle's studio.

In 1917, he volunteered to join the Romanian Army, and fought in a series of battles on the Moldavian front, at Corbu, Măxineni, and Nămoloasa.

For his valor, he was decorated with the Romanian Order of the Crown, Knight rank, and the French Croix de Guerre, which was conferred to him by general Henri Mathias Berthelot.

[4] During his long artistic career, Jalea authored numerous monuments, statues, busts, reliefs, and allegorical compositions.

He also incorporated a rigorous sense of spatial arrangement, complemented by the balanced and harmonious use of shapes, a trademark of Bourdelle's style.

[2] In 1935, he designed the 250 lei coin, which features the Coat of arms of the Kingdom of Romania and the Effigy of King Carol II.

The building, designed by the architect Victor Ștefănescu [ro] after World War I, was turned in a museum in 1968, when Jalea donated to the city part of his private art collection.