Iconic Brancusi sculpture to stay in Romania

The Romanian state plans to purchase Constantin Brancusis sculpture The Wisdom of the Earth from private owner.

Roxana Vasile, 17.03.2016, 14:05

One of the most influential artists
of the 20th century, the Romanian-born sculptor Constantin Brancusi
is one of the founding figures of modernism. His choice of material includes
marble, limestone, bronze and wood. Christie’s, one of the world’s most
prestigious auction houses and the biggest dealer of Brancusi’s works, also
holds the record for the highest price paid for a Brancusi sculpture at 27.4
million dollars.

While celebrated abroad, Brancusi
has not always enjoyed the same recognition at home, in Romania. Suffice it to
say that it wasn’t until the 19th of February this year that a
national day was declared to celebrate this great artist. There is also a
proposal to establish a national museum named after Brancusi in Targu Jiu,
close to the village where he was born. The new museum may even exhibit some of
his works on loan from his famous studio in Paris.

Recently, the Romanian state also
said it planned to start talks with a view to purchasing Brancusi’s work The
Wisdom of the Earth, which had been put up for sale by a private collector in
Romania. On Wednesday, the culture minister Vlad Alexandrescu posted a Facebook
message saying the owners of the sculpture accepted the 11 million euro offer
made by the Romanian state. The government will pay 5 of the 11 million, while
the rest is to be covered by public donations.

Dating back to 1907, The Wisdom of
the Earth was created, along with The Kiss and Prayer, while Brancusi was at
the height of his creative powers. During its lifetime, the sculpture has had
two owners. The first was engineer Gheorghe Romascu, a good friend of Brancusi
who bought it from the artist in 1911. In 1957, the work was confiscated
abusively by the newly instated communist regime and exhibited at the National
Museum of Art. Following a lengthy trial, the work was returned to Romascu’s
descendants.

The Wisdom of the Earth will now
belong to the Romanian nation. Minister Alexandrescu says the state must put
right the injustice against Brancusi made in the 1950s, when the communists
declared his work an example of decadent and formalist art and even planned to
demolish his outdoor Endless Column work in Targu Jiu.