The Endless Column of Constantin Brancusi
The Endless Column is a sculpture by
Constantin Brancusi that was inaugurated in Tirgu
Jiu city on October 27th, 1938. It has a height of 29.35 meters and is composed of 15 modules, which Brancusi called beads, having
the lower and upper ends of half of module. The geographical coordinates of the Endless Column is
45° 2' 8.9" N,
23° 16' 51.2" E.
The sculpture is a stylization of the funeral columns specific of the Southern part of Romania.
It's original name was Endless Gratitude Column and was dedicated to the Romanian soldiers of First War World , who died in 1916 in
the battles on Jiu river's banks.
However, the project is older. It appears that since 1909, in Brancusi's studio there were
logs and beams, wood cut columns, first exposed version of a column entitled "architectural project" dating back to 1918. In 1933,
in his personal exhibition in New York Brancusi presented The Endless Column, which he called a "project of column which enlarged
could support the sky”.
Cast iron column was made in September 1937 in the Central Workshops of Petrosani (ACP). Head of the
project was to engineer Stefan Georgescu-Gorjan, chief- foreman John Romosan and carpenter foreman who executed the model in wood
beads was Flisec Carol in direct cooperation with Brancusi, who came especially from Paris to oversee the casting of the column.
The
components of the column are:
Metallic core tube 42 cm square, assembled in three sections with a length of 8.93 m, 10 m and
9.4 m
Concrete Foundation, which reaches a depth of 5m, with a form of truncated pyramid with the big base of 4.5, facing
down.
"Beads" (as Brancusi called them) of iron, "strung" on the kernel, a total of 17 pieces:
• A semi element of
base height of 136 cm;
• 15 modules, with a height of 180 cm each;
• A peak semi element height of 90 cm
Total weight of the column
(kernel + "beads") is 29,173 kilograms.
Infinite Column, between 1998 and 2000, was restored through collaboration between the
Romanian Government, World Monuments Fond, World Bank and other Romanian and international groups.
Endless Column is on the "Via Sacra"
at the eastern end of the Heroes way street, the hill that forms the park that bears it's name, "Endless Column" is placed in a straight
line with other works from the Public Garden, the distance of about 1700 m of them.
Constantin Brancusi is considered by the great
scientists - including Carola Giedion Welcker, Robert Goldwater, Henry Moore, Peter Pandrea, Irina Codreanu, Peter Neagoe, Peter Comarnescu,
Malvina Hoffman and many others - the most brilliant representative of the twentieth century sculpture, the father of modern sculpture
and also a remarkable and wise philosopher of ancient origin compared by some with Socrates, Diogenes, or Esop.
Sources Used
The travel guide of Romania - Publisher Publirom, 2008
Institutul de Memorie Culturala "Poarta catre
patrimoniul cultural românesc" 2009. Institutul de Memorie Culturala 26 Dec 2009
http://www.cimec.ro
