First Brancusi show in Rome/ photo gallery

Birds as messengers of the sacred and emblems of the link between earth and sky, but also as a field of research, in an attempt to make visible through marble, stone and wood the impossible dream of the infinite that every human being nurtures. This is the theme of the exhibition “Brancusi: scolpire il volo”, open at the Uccelliere Farnesiane in the Archaeological Park of the Colosseum in Rome.

For the first time, works by Constantin Brâncuși are coming to Rome for an exhibition open from February 13 to May 11.

The exhibition shows how the artist has transformed organic forms inspired by Romanian folk art into immortal symbols of purity and the human spirit, said Gabriela Dancău, Romania’s ambassador to Rome.

Organized by the Archaeological Park of the Colosseum, in collaboration with the Centre National Georges Pompidou in Paris, the exhibition explores a recurring theme in Brâncuși’s work, the bestiary of birds.

Curated by Alfonsina Russo, Philippe-Alain Michaud, Maria Laura Cavaliere and Daniele Fortuna, the exhibition is divided in two distinct sections: the first, dedicated to sculpture, presents works such as “Le Coq”, 1935, “L’Oiselet”, 1928, and “Leda” (1920/1926), which highlight Brâncuși’s revolutionary gesture, which through the simplification of forms and the direct sculpting of material sought to reach the very essence of the animal, faithful to the aphorism in which the artist stated, “It is not the bird that I want to represent, but the gift, the flight, the elk”.

The second section focuses on photography and film, languages that the artist used in the 1920s and 1930s to enhance the plastic qualities of his sculptures as well as to document them.

Photo credit: Parco Archeologico del Colosseo