First Bust of a Boy sculpted by Constantin Brâncuși exhibited in Bucharest

Artmark Galleries Bucharest is marking February 19, Brâncuși National Day 2025, with a tribute exhibition of the first Bust of a Boy sculpted by the artist. The exhibition takes place at Cesianu-Racoviță Palace from February 19 to 23 and can be visited daily between 10:00 AM and 8:00 PM, with free admission.

Enfant (Bust of a Boy) is the first sculpture in a series dedicated to children and created by Constantin Brâncuși after he settled in Paris in 1904.

The sculpture is a patinated plaster that the artist exhibited at the Salon d'Automne in Paris in 1906. The event was immortalized by a photograph signed by Brâncuși.

The 1906 event also marks the moment in which Brâncuși was noticed by the jury members: Rodin, Bourdelle, Maillol, and Medardo Rosso - the latter being particularly sensitive to capturing children's psychology.

"After a long series of busts of people from his Parisian circle, some known only through studio photographs, Brâncuși sculpted busts of children whom he had probably observed in Place Dauphine, where he had just settled in October 1905. These works were, for him, exercises that evoked the academic norms of his training at the National School of Fine Arts in Bucharest and allowed him to participate in group exhibitions and Sculpture Salons in Paris," explains Doina Lemny, a Paris-based art historian, researcher specializing in the work of sculptor Constantin Brâncuși.

Constantin Brâncuși was born in Hobita (Romania) on February 19, 1876. A passionate wood carver, he produced numerous wood sculptures, often with a folk flavor. The date of his birth is celebrated as a national holiday in Romania each year.

(Photo source: Artmark)