About Constantin Brancusi Constantin Brncui February 1876 March

About Constantin Brancusi… Constantin Brâncuşi (February, 1876 – March 16, 1957), was an internationally renowned Romanian sculptor, born in Hobita, Gorj, near Targu Jiu, whose sculptures blend simplicity and sophistication that led the way for modernist sculptor. Constantin Brancusi

Brâncuşi grew up in a village in Romania's Carpathian Mountains, an area known for its rich tradition of folk craft , particularly ornate woodcarving. The simple geometric patterns of the craftsmen is seen in his mature works. His parents, Nicolae and Maria Brâncuşi, were poor peasants who sold their bodies for back-breaking labor, and from the age of seven he herded the family's flock of sheep. He showed remarkable talent for carving objects out of wood. Strongwilled and determined, he often ran away from home to escape the bullying of his father and older brothers. At the age of nine Brâncuşi left the village to work at menial jobs in the nearest large town. At 13 he went to Craiova where he worked at a grocery store for several years.

When he was 18, impressed by Brâncuşi's talent for carving, his employer financed his education at the Craiova School of Crafts (Şcoala de Meserii). There he indulged his love for woodworking, taught himself to read and write, and graduated with honors in 1898. His works became popular in France, Romania and the United States. Collectors, notably Jhon Quinn, bought his pieces, and reviewers praised his works. In 1913 Brâncuşi's work was displayed at both the Salon des Independents and the first exhibition in the U. S. of modern art, the Armory Show. His circle of friends included artists and intellectuals in Paris such as Ezra Pound, Henri Pierre Roché, Guillaume Apollinaire, Pablo Picasso, Marcel Duchamp, Henri Rousseau, and Fernand Léger.

Works n n n n Bust of a boy (1906) The Prayer (1907) La Sagesse de la Terre (1908) "The Kiss“ (1908) “Sleeping Muse” (1910) “The Endless Column“ (1938) "The Gate of the Kiss“(1938) "The Table of Silence“(1938) Brancusi’s Sculpures

The Endless Column is a sculpture inaugurated in Targu Jiu, Romania on 27 October 1938. This sculpture, based on the symbolism of the axis mundi, was made as a tribute to the young Romanians who died in World War I fighting Germany, and is a stylization of the funerary pillars used in Southern Romania. In the 1950’s, the Romanian communist government considered Brâncuşi's art an example of "bourgeois" sculpture and planned to demolishit, but the plan was never executed. The Endless Column-sketch

It was restored between 1998 and 2000 through a collaborative effort of the Romanian Government World Monuments Fund, the World Bank and other Romanian and international groups. The Endless Column is 29. 33 meters (96. 23 feet) high and composed of 17 rhombus-shaped modules made out of cast-iron. The artwork is depicted in Târgu Jiu's coat of arms. The Endless Column