Before becoming the father of modern sculpture, Constantin Brancusi came to Iasi to study in the dissection rooms of the Institute of Anatomy, in order to learn to look beyond the surface. Here, the young Brancusi rigorously examined the structure of the human body, laying the foundations of a vision that would underpin his artistic revolution and redefine form in 20th century art.

In 2026, the year dedicated to the national celebration of Constantin Brancusi, the personality of the great artist will be evoked on Thursday, 19 February, through events organised by the Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy, aimed at bringing back into public attention the artist's connection with the university's Institute of Anatomy, where he studied dissection, an experience that decisively influenced his development and formed the basis of his modern vision of form.

Few today associate medical Iasi with the destiny of the man who would permanently change the language of 20th century sculpture. This year, dedicated to the national celebration of Brancusi, the Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Iasi brings this essential episode in the sculptor's development back into the spotlight.

At the Museum of Anatomy, the Ecorche created in 1902 under the guidance of Professor Dimitrie Gerota is still preserved, a plaster cast that reveals, with precision and structural harmony, the muscular architecture of the human body.

‘Brancusi was, first and foremost, a rigorous researcher of form, an artist whose genius crystallised through the thorough assimilation of scientific discipline. The Ecorche, created under the guidance of Professor Dimitrie Gerota, represents the gateway of initiation through which Brancusi passed in order to reach the essence: knowledge of inner architecture gave him the freedom to simplify the exterior,' Dr Richard Constantinescu, coordinator of the I.I. Mironescu Cultural Centre, told AGERPRES.

Documents of the time show that Brancusi also attended the dissection lessons of Professor Zaharia Samfirescu, an experience that shaped his artistic vision.

Photo source: Dr Richard Constantinescu

‘Documents of the period attest to the artist's presence at the Institute of Anatomy in Iasi, where he attended the dissection lessons of Professor Zaharia Samfirescu. This experience of direct contact with the internal architecture of forms shaped the plastic thinking that would revolutionise modern sculpture,' Dr Constantinescu explained.

The continuity of this link, he added, was confirmed by the busts created by Brancusi in 1905 in Paris.

‘The artist honoured the memory of Professor Samfirescu, who passed away that very year, by reconstructing his features from a photograph, a gesture of profound gratitude towards his mentor. During the same period, Brancusi also shaped the likeness of Victoria Vaschide, the professor's daughter. She, together with her husband, the distinguished psychologist Nicolae Vaschide, frequented the artist's studio in the French capital. Nicolae Vaschide was among the first intellectuals to sense Brancusi's genius, writing about the value of his works in the pages of the French-language daily L'Independance Roumaine,' Richard Constantinescu said.

This page of history will be marked by the Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Iasi on 19 February through the event ‘Brancusi Was Here - The Anatomical Secret of Modernity'. The date was chosen to coincide with the national celebration of the great artist.

Photo source: Dr Richard Constantinescu

The event, organised by the I.I. Mironescu Cultural Centre of the university, opens a series of initiatives dedicated to the profound link between scientific rigour and artistic vision and proposes a re-reading of Brancusi's beginnings from the perspective of dialogue between disciplines. Thus, at the Museum of the History of Medicine, a ‘workshop of words' titled ‘Those Around Brancusi. On Mentors, the Body and Poetry,' delivered by Dr Richard Constantinescu, will be held.

During this first event, the profound connection between Constantin Brancusi and the medical environment of Iasi will be revealed.

In turn, visual artist Vladimir Dumbrava will organise a graphics workshop entitled ‘Form and Essence. Anatomy in Brancusian Vision.' Throughout 19 February, the Museum of Anatomy in Iasi will also host an Open Doors Day.

Photo source: Dr. Richard Constantinescu

‘Through these activities, the university honours a founding moment: the meeting between the precision of dissection and sculptural intuition. The Ecorche remains testimony to the stage in which the study of the body provided the rigour necessary for the liberation of form,' Dr Richard Constantinescu said.

According to him, the event seeks to underline the role of the university as a space of convergence between science, culture and the living memory of the great artist.

‘In Iasi, this history acquires a distinct human and intellectual dimension. The presence of the young Brancusi in the dissection rooms of the Institute of Anatomy and his gratitude towards Professor Zaharia Samfirescu, evoked through the busts later modelled in Paris, confirm that Brancusian modernity was also nourished by the academic rigour of Iasi. The event reaffirms a certainty: the road to 'Pasarea maiastra' began with mastering the bone and muscular structure,' Dr Constantinescu added. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Daniela Malache; EN - writing by: Adina Panaitescu)