Involving us in the search of "the essence of things", Brancusi proposes to cross together different frontiers: geographical, historical or formal ones. From his homeland, Romania, to Paris, crossing through Europe and travelling to United States, India and Egypt, he is achieving a rich artistic path which allows him to create an original piece of art, purified of any other influence. This book allows us to access an exceptional work, left in our collective memory, which, at the beginning of the 20th century, has opened the way to modernism.
    Doina Lemny is an art historian and researcher at Musee d'Art Moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris.

 

 

    „ln August 1937, the sculptor made a lime tree module that was supposed to be the model for the workers in Carol Flisek's team. Also then the three central shafts of the Column were cast at the Petrosani Foundry. Once set in place they acquired three successive layers of minium. According to the indications of the sculptor, a few months after completion the Column was covered with a coat of golden yellow brass. The invisible base of the monument consists of a cross-like support made of steel bars, prolonged by a metal axis with a 42-cm (16 17/32") square section. Fixed in cement, this base assures the resistance of the Column. The artist was deeply involved in the erection of the Endless Column, having the process caught on film, as testimony of the work in progress. The clips preserved in the studio render unique moments not only from the construction of the Column proper but also from various happy warm meets between the artist and the people working on the project. The enthusiasm of his fellow-countrymen and women encouraged him to expand the project and proceed to the creation of an actual ensemble of monuments in homage to the Romanian war heroes, token of admiration, gratitude and remembrance into the future generations. To the initial project featuring only the Endless Column he decided to add two more components, The Gate of the Kiss and The Table of Silence. The president of the League, Mrs. Aretia Tatarescu wholeheartedly approved the initiative and pledged to provide him the material of his choice: stone from the Banpotoc quarries of Transylvania. The memorial thus became a plastic expression blending sculpture, architecture, and cityscaping. Thus the Endless Column was installed outside Targu Jiu, in an open space corresponding to the approximately 30-m height of the monument, with The Alley of the Heroes connecting it to the city, while at the entry into the park The Gate of the Kiss was erected."