Constantin Brâncuși. Le origini dell’Infinito

As part of the bilateral programme of the Romania–Italy Cultural Year 2026, promoted by the Ambasciata di Romania in Italia with the support of the Ministries of Culture and Foreign Affairs of both countries and under the High Patronage of the Presidents of Romania and Italy, the Mercati di Traiano - Museo dei Fori Imperiali host a major exhibition dedicated to Constantin Brâncuși, one of the most influential figures in twentieth-century sculpture. The exhibition marks the 150th anniversary of his birth (1876–1957), celebrating an artist who revolutionised modern sculptural language and opened the way to a new understanding of form.

Curated by Erwin Kessler, Director of the National Museum of Art of Romania, the exhibition offers a wide-ranging and compelling reinterpretation of Brâncuși’s work, placing at its centre his cultural roots, his spiritual quest, and his remarkable ability to transform tradition into avant-garde innovation. The narrative unfolds along a dual horizon: the legacy of Oltenia, his native region, with its ancient wood-carving tradition, and his dialogue with ancient Roman sculpture, studied as a model of balance, proportion and formal perfection.

For Brâncuși, the practice of “taille directe” was both an aesthetic and an ethical choice. Carving directly into stone or wood established a physical, immediate and authentic relationship with matter. The artist did not delegate; he was not merely the conceiver but the sole author and maker of the work, leaving on the surface the trace of gesture and creative energy. This almost ritual dimension of making restored to sculpture a primordial force, uniting craftsmanship and vision.

At the same time, his engagement with Roman antiquity nurtured a reflection on form as essential synthesis. From the realistic figure, Brâncuși learned to extract the permanent element, the eternal essence, freeing the image from superfluous detail. The fragment, the head and the torso became means of interrogating time and transforming the memory of the ancient world into a contemporary language. In this tension between the archaic and the classical, his research moved towards radical simplification, towards archetype and purity.

The exhibition guides visitors through the evolution from symbolic figuration to a radical and strikingly original modernist synthesis. Myth, spirituality and folk tradition merge into increasingly essential images that transcend representation to become universal symbols. Works such as Mademoiselle Pogany, Prometeo and those connected with the monumental ensemble at Târgu-Jiu mark this decisive transition: forms become compact, polished and geometric, embodying a vision in which matter and light exist in perfect equilibrium.

The exhibition thus highlights Brâncuși’s extraordinary ability to unite Romanian archaism and Roman classicism within an entirely new sculptural vision. His works do not simply depict figures; they evoke presences, energies and inner tensions. Form does not imitate reality: it distils it, refines it and renders it essential.

The initiative is promoted by Roma Capitale, Assessorato alla Cultura and Coordination of initiatives related to Holocaust Remembrance Day, and by the Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali; at national level by the Presidency of the Culture Commission of the Chamber of Deputies, in collaboration with the aforementioned Romanian ministerial authorities and under the patronage of the Italian Ministry of Culture. The exhibition is organised by the Sovrintendenza Capitolina together with the Romanian Embassy in the Italian Republic and the National Museum of Art of Romania, in partnership with the Museo d’Arte Nazionale di Craiova and the Museo Distrettuale Gorj “Alexandru Ștefulescu”, with technical support from Civita Mostre e Musei Spa and Zètema Progetto Cultura.

Cover image: Constantin Brâncuși, La Preghiera (The Prayer), bronze, National Museum of Art of Romania. Ph. Wps.