Marc Catalin Constantin

HUMAN BRIDGES BETWEEN ROMANIAN

AND FRENCH PERSONALITIES

MARC CATALIN CONSTANTIN

Constantin Brâncuși [konstanˈtin brɨŋˈkuʃʲ]

Constantin Brâncuși (Romanian:  February 19, 1876 – March 16, 1957) was a Romanian-born sculptor who made his career in France. 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 École 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. Famous Brâncuși works include the Sleeping Muse (1908), The Kiss (1908), Prometheus (1911), Mademoiselle Pogany (1913), The Newborn (1915), Bird in Space (1919) and The Column of the Infinite (Coloana infinitului), popularly known as The Endless Column (1938). Considered a pioneer of modernism, Brâncuși is called the patriarch of modern sculpture.

Early years

Brâncuși grew up in the village of Hobiţa, Gorj, near Târgu Jiu, close to Romania's Carpathian Mountains, an area known for its rich tradition of folk crafts, particularly woodcarving. Geometric patterns of the region are seen in his later works.

At 11 he went into the service of a grocer in Slatina; and then he became a domestic in a public house in Craiova where he remained for several years

He then enrolled in the Bucharest School of Fine Arts, where he received academic training in sculpture. He worked hard, and quickly distinguished himself as talented

Working in Paris

In 1903, Brâncuși travelled to Munich, and from there to Paris. In Paris, he was welcomed by the community of artists and intellectuals brimming with new ideas. He worked for two years in the workshop of Antonin Mercié of the École des Beaux-Arts, and was invited to enter the workshop of Auguste Rodin. Even though he admired the eminent Rodin he left the Rodin studio after only two months, saying, "Nothing can grow under big trees.”

Sculptures

Constantin Brâncuși, Portrait of Mademoiselle Pogany , 1912, White marble; limestone block, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia. Exhibited at the 1913 Armory Show.

Constantin Brâncuși, 1907-08, The Kiss. Exhibited in 1913 at the Armory Show and published in the Chicago Tribune, 25 March 1913

Death and legacy

He died on March 16, 1957 at the age of 81 leaving 1200 photographs and 215 sculptures. He was buried in the Cimetière du Montparnasse in Paris. Also located in that cemetery are statues carved by Brâncuși for several fellow artists who died; the best-known of these is "Le Baiser" ("The Kiss").

Adrian Irvin Rozei is a cultural jurnalist and independent French writer originally from Romania. In 1967 he settled in France where he continued his studies at „École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Saint-Étienne where he obtained the title „Ingénieur Civil des Mines”.. He regulary participates at French-Romanian meetings which it take place in French or Romania. He is part of "Archaeological Society, Scientific and Literary" in Béziers, one of the oldest scholarly society in France. He speaks eight languages .

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