invasion. The restoration of this ensemble was spearheaded by the World Monuments Fundand
was completed in 2004.
The Târgu Jiu ensemble marks the apex of his artistic career. In his remaining 19 years he
created less than 15 pieces, mostly reworking earlier themes, and while his fame grew he
withdrew. In 1956 Life magazine reported, "Wearing white pajamas and a yellow gnomelike cap,
Brâncuși today hobbles about his studio tenderly caring for and communing w ith the silent host
of fish birds, heads, and endless columns which he created."
Brâncuși was cared for in his
later years by a Romanian
refugee couple. He became a
French citizen in 1952 in
order to make the caregivers
his heirs, and to bequeath his
studio and its contents to
the Musée
National
d'Art
Moderne in Paris
Personal life
Brâncuși always dressed in the simple ways the Romanian peasants did. His studio was
reminiscent of the houses of the peasants from his native region: there was a big slab of rock as a
table and a primitive fireplace, similar to those found in traditional houses in his native Oltenia,
while the rest of the furniture was made by him out of wood.
Brâncuși would cook his own food,traditional Romanian dishes,
with which he would treat his guests.
Brâncuși held a large spectrum of interests, from science to music.
He was a good violinist and he would sing old Romanian folk
songs, often expressing by them his feelings of homesickness. After
the installment of communism, he never considered moving back to
his native Romania, but he did visit it eight times.
His circle of friends included artists and intellectuals in Paris such
as Amedeo Modigliani, Ezra Pound, Henri Pierre Roché, Guillaume
Apollinaire, Louise Bourgeois, Pablo Picasso, Man Ray, Marcel
Duchamp, Henri Rousseau, and Fernand Léger. He was an old
Magazine Without Borders
Issue n°1
24/45