These questions were asked in the context of both avant-garde sculpture after 1900 and photography, which was still in its infancy. Brâncuşi was inspired by African and prehistoric art, although his ideas were rooted deep in European thinking. He identified movement, acceleration and speed, among other things, as principles of modernity. The smooth surfaces of his three-dimensional objects thus suggest a dissolution of the material and generate the impression of the peripheral, temporary and unreachable. “Birds” or “fish” that visitors to the exhibition encounter in the photographs have become pure forms: it is the act of swimming through the water or flying through the air that has taken shape here. Brâncuşi was interested in reducing the perceptible world to the essentials, in tracing complex organic shapes back to original forms, such as eggs. The “Endless pillar” in several versions shows that the topic of infinity can be handled through the sequencing of simple elements. In 1938 he completed a monumental version, consisting of 16 metal rhombi, in Târgu Jiu, western Romania, as part of a memorial to the victims of the First World War.

This exhibition is part of the Cultural Days of the European Central Bank - Romania 2009. Each year, the Cultural Days showcase the cultural diversity of an European Union member state.