#Exhibit of the Month

To mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of the great Romanian sculptor Constantin Brâncuși, 2026 was declared by the President of Romania the Year of Constantin Brâncuși. Constantin Brâncuși, one of the greatest sculptors of the twentieth century, was born in 1876 in Hobița, Gorj County, and passed away in 1957 in Paris; he was buried in the Père-Lachaise cemetery. In 1904 he arrived in Paris, where he attended courses at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. There he also worked in the studio of Auguste Rodin (1840-1917), the founder of modern sculpture, and met Amadeo Modigliani (1884-1920), the Italian sculptor settled in France. Inspired by the work of these artists, he perfected his artistic training in Paris. His works are held in museums both at home and abroad, in the Netherlands, the Scandinavian countries, France, and the United States of America. For his outstanding merits he was awarded the Order of the Star of Romania in 1923; in 1931 Nicolae Iorga proposed him for the Order of Cultural Merit; and only in 1990 was he posthumously elected a member of the Romanian Academy.
One of the artist's most famous creations is the sculpture Mademoiselle Pogany, considered a national symbol of modern Romanian art. Its protagonist was Margaret Pogany (1879-1964), a young Hungarian painter who came to Paris in 1909 to study painting techniques. Visiting her studio, she asked the sculptor to make her portrait, even leaving him a photograph and a self-portrait. In 1911 Brâncuși sculpted her likeness from memory in marble and in bronze, focusing on the deep, large, almond-shaped eyes, the subdued eyebrows, the narrow nose, the small mouth, the austere hairstyle and the modest gesture of the hands, rested against the face. Between 1912 and 1933 he produced nineteen versions of Mademoiselle Pogany.

The commemorative medal "Constantin Brâncuși (1876-1976). Expoziție Filatelică Omagială - București 1976" was struck in Romania at the State Mint by the engraver Ștefan Grudinschi. Executed in bronze with a diameter of 60 mm and a weight of 113.73 g, the medal is remarkable for its memorial and artistic value. Obverse: the sculptor's bust facing left, with the semicircular legend "CONSTANTIN BRÂNCUȘI - 1876-1976." Reverse: a fragment of the triptych The Gate of the Kiss. Semicircular legend: "EXPOZIȚIA FILATELICĂ OMAGIALĂ - BUCUREȘTI 1976."
The medal "Constantin Brâncuși. Mademoiselle Pogany. Craiova Art Museum. 1987" was also executed in bronze at the State Mint (Bucharest); it has a nominal diameter of 60 mm (because of the circular cutting the actual dimensions are D: 45 mm; weight: 53.55 g). The obverse shows, in the central field, an image of the Craiova Art Museum framed by the semicircular legend "MUZEUL DE ARTĂ - CRAIOVA / 1987." The reverse depicts a replica of the sculpture Mademoiselle Pogany made by Brâncuși's pupil O. Moșescu, accompanied by the inscription "CONSTANTIN BRÂNCUȘI - M-elle POGANY / 1913."

Virtual Tour

#Exhibit of the Month

May 2023

The rocking bowl from Grigoreuca

It is fascinating how over thousands of years, clay objects have not lost their charm and have adapted to each era, evolving with society. Such a modest material as clay, could be used in a variety of ways, among which the most ancient - the modeling of vessels. The multitude of shapes and decoration of ceramic vessels fascinates and represents a true art adjusted to the way of life and the spiritual level of communities from different historical periods. A separate category is represented by miniature vessels. They can represent from miniatures of kitchen utensils (pots, cups, glasses) to zoomorphic, anthropomorphic representations, models of chariots.

Such a vessel was discovered in 1989, during the research of a burial mound located on the territory of Grigoreuca village, Sîngerei district (excavation authors: E. Antipenco, V. Beilecci). It was deposited as a funerary inventory in a tomb attributed to the Jamnaja culture (early Bronze Age period, XXIII-XVIII centuries BC). The vessel is hand-shaped from clay paste mixed with crushed ceramic. It is rectangular in shape with rounded corners and trapezoidal in section, straight base and slightly raised walls. The mouth of the vessel is wide, with a straight lip, weakly highlighted. Below the lip is provided with 12 conical protuberances located three on each of the sides. Those on the long sides are provided with a longitudinal circular hole. The outer surface of the bowl, including its base, is decorated with string printing. The decoration is made in the form of radiating lines and overlapping triangles. It is yellowish-grey in color with brown spots on the outside and gray-brown on the inside.

Although it was discovered in a tomb attributed to the Jamnaja culture, at the moment, no other objects of this kind are known in the environment of this culture. The closest analogues are known in the dwellings and funerary complexes of the Catacombs culture that existed in the middle period of the Bronze Age, the XIX-XVIII centuries BC, in the North-Pontic steppes. Such pieces are also known in the environment of the North Caucasian culture (XX-XXIII centuries BC). Most likely, the vessel discovered at Grigoreuca represents an import object from the Catacomb culture environment.

Both the shape of the vessel and the side holes, which assume its suspension, allowed its interpretation to be the model of a swing, hence the name swing vessel. But according to other opinions such objects are chariot models. The presence of visible traces of burning (soot) inside some of them, does not exclude their use as an opiate or smoker.

Dimensions: H - 4.9 cm; L - 13.6 cm; W - 8.3 cm.

#Exhibit of the Month

Constantin Brâncuși in Medallistics

May 2023

The rocking bowl from Grigoreuca

#Exhibit of the Month