#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."

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Publications

Library „Tyragetia"

Elena Ploșnița, Mihai Ursu

Encyclopedia of Museology of the Republic of Moldova

Series “Biblioteca „Tyragetia” XX, Chișinău, 2011, 308 p. ISBN 978-9975-80-526-1.

Encyclopedia of Museology of the Republic of Moldova is a work dedicated to the museum world of the country. Its content focuses on the most significant museums, the most remarkable personalities in the field. An encyclopedia about museums can not cover everything, but the selected and presented materials reflect the museum sphere in detail.

Encyclopedia of Museology of the Republic of Moldova appeared in late 2011, at the Bons Offices Publishing and Printing House, Chisinau. The authors of the volume are Elena Ploșnița, Ph.D. and Mihai Ursu.

Encyclopedia of Museology of the Republic of Moldova contains ca 300 articles placed in alphabetical order, which provide clear and objective information about the Moldavian museum world since the 19^th century to the present. It is supplemented by the List of Abbreviations, summaries in four languages, List of Sources, Bibliography, Index of Articles, Index of Names, and Index of Localities. Many of the articles have a historical prelude: every phenomenon is presented in its development. Most articles are accompanied by Works and Bibliography, which contain the most important materials on the subject or on the life and work of museums, scientists, and people of culture. Both in the Works and Bibliography, the works are presented in chronological order, regardless of the language they were written.

The work comprises three main blocks of information: museological material (terminology, concepts); historical material (information on museums of the past, different societies, contemporary museums and their collections, etc.); biographical material (information about the museum specialists, collectors, museum supporters, etc.). All the articles are presented in alphabetical order, regardless of the block of information.

The Encyclopedia includes black and white and color illustrations. Special attention was given to illustrations reflecting museum pieces; there are also given images of museum buildings and photos of personalities who have found the right place in the pages of the Encyclopedia. In black and white there are given presently nonexistent museums of the past, collectors, scientists, and museum specialists who are no longer among the living. In color there are presented pieces from the museum collections, buildings of the museums, which are now open to the public, and specialists who are working in the museums today. Most of the photographs were made by Iurie Foca.

The Encyclopedia as any work can be improved; it is a beginning that can be continued by colleagues, curators, historians, and others, in one or another way. We will be grateful to those who would have the courage to continue the presentation of MUSEUM phenomenon in other scientific publications.