Ring given by Brâncuși to singer Maria Tănase and a letter from him to Florence Meyer, exhibited in Târgu Jiu/ photo gallery

A sapphire and diamond ring given by Constantin Brâncuși to the singer Maria Tănase, a plaster bas-relief mounted on wood with the sculptor’s face by Milița Petrașcu, a letter from him to Florence Meyer and a Brâncuși bust signed by Ion Irimescu are among the objects included in the exhibition “The essence of memory: Constantin Brâncuși, documents, images, testimonies” at the Gorj County Museum “Alexandru Ștefulescu”.

Organized by the museum in partnership with the Romanian Academy Library (Manuscripts Cabinet, Rare Books, Prints Cabinet), “Lucian Blaga” Central University Library Cluj-Napoca, Bucharest Metropolitan Library, “I.G. Sbiera” Suceava and in collaboration with several private collections, with the sculptor Alferd Dumitriu as a special guest, the exhibition proposes a reflective incursion into the universe of Brancuși.

The photographs, manuscripts, correspondence, notes, objects, as well as the accounts of contemporaries reveal a Brancusi attentive to time, silence and rhythm, aware that pure form is not born from accumulation, but from a slow process of liberation, the presentation says.

The exhibition, open until March 30, is curated by Adina Rențea and marks the 150th anniversary of the sculptor’s birth, on February 19, 2026.