Constantin Brancusi Was, or better, is, one of the greatest sculptors of the world, and he was...
-
Upload
jennifer-spencer -
Category
Documents
-
view
214 -
download
0
Transcript of Constantin Brancusi Was, or better, is, one of the greatest sculptors of the world, and he was...
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.
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.
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 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.