Project

Erected in 1934, the Endless Column by famed Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi (1876-1957) has been hailed as one of the great works of 20th-century outdoor sculpture. (...)

Erected in 1934, the Endless Column by famed Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi (1876-1957) has been hailed as one of the great works of 20th-century outdoor sculpture. Commissioned by the Women's League of Gorj, Romania to honor the soldiers who defended Târgu-Jiu against a German force in 1916, the tripartite ensemble comprises the Endless Column, a 30-meter-high column of zinc and brass-clad, cast-iron modules threaded onto a steel spine, and two travertine monuments, the Gate of the Kiss and the Table of Silence.

Despite the ensemble's artistic importance, decades of exposure to the elements and poor maintenance during the Communist era took their toll on the sculptures, which by the mid-1990s, were in dire need of conservation. There was also major disagreement among interested parties on how to conduct this specialized restoration project.

The Endless Column ensemble was included in WMF's inaugural 1996 Watch list, which led to the establishment of a partnership between WMF, the Romanian government and the World Bank to finance the preservation of all three sculpture and a discussion of how to repair the landscape that had once connected the three pieces.