Constantin Brancusi

Was, or better, is, one of the greatest sculptors of the world, and he was romanian. Born in 1857, in the village of Hobiţa, in Romania, Brâncuşi lived between 1876 and 1957.

As a child he displayed an aptitude for carving wooden farm tools. Formal studies took him first to Bucharest, then to Munich, then to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. His abstract style emphasizes clean geometrical lines that balance forms inherent in his materials with the symbolic allusions of representational art.

In 1927 Brancusi created 'Bird in Space', a minimalistic pure form, just showing the bare essentials needed to evoke the motion of a bird in flight. BIRD IN SPACE

In 1938, Brancusi finished the World War I monument in Tîrgu-Jiu a place where he'd lived during his childhood. "Table of Silence", "Gate of the Kiss", and "Endless Column" commemorate the courage and sacrifice of Romanian civilians who in 1916 fought off a German invasion.

TABLE OF SILENCE

The Table of Silence is made in limestone with dimensions: panel diameter 2, 15 meters, thick 0,43 m and the leg is 2 m in diameter and 0,45 m thick. The Table of Silence represents the table around which gather the soldiers before confronting their enemy. At the same time, the 12 chairs stand in silence for the time disposed in hourglasses. Some make an analogy with The Last Supper of Leonardo da Vinci the monument being composed of 12 seats (representing the apostles) and in the middle Jesus Christ place.

GATE OF THE KISS

The Gate of the Kiss is the second element of the ensemble. Technically speaking it looks like a triumphal arch having 5,13m high; on each side of the arch the pillars (1,69 m width) have carved the symbol of kiss: two halves of a circle, so characteristic of Brancusi's work, on every side- the motif of the eyes looking inside. The 5,45m long architrave has also carved this symbol, like a watermark. It’s significance is: the Gate of the Kiss makes the transition to another life, symbolizing the triumph of life over death. The second meaning of the gate: the kiss means union of the eight columns /regions that was attached to the mother country, Romania.

THE ENDLESS COLUMN

The Endless Column or the Column of Gratitude: 29,33 m high, is the third element of the ensemble, being situated at the eastern extremity of the axis forming the Alley of Heroes. "Column of the infinite sacrifice" given by Romanian heroes to their nation is made out of 17 and half rhomboidal cast iron modules, measuring 1,80 m high each and about 860 kg, moulded in the Central Workshop from Petrosani. The modules are fixed on a steel axis and their number means the year when Romania adhere to the First World War. Otherwise, the Endless Column is considered to be the “spiritual will” of Constantin Brancusi.

CONSTANTIN BRANCUSI