An exhibition featuring 33 rare photographs taken by Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi, from the David Grob collection, was previewed on Wednesday during a guided tour in Targu Jiu, ahead of its official opening on Thursday.

Entitled 'Brancusi - Photography. The Invisible Studio', the exhibition is hosted by Pavilion Art 360 and includes self-portraits, photographs of the sculptor's works and images of his studio.lection.

The exhibition begins with an anonymous photograph showing Brancusi's letterbox, followed by a section devoted to self-portraits and photographs the sculptor took of his works and inside his studio.

Displayed among the three self-portraits is a passport application Brancusi submitted to the Romanian Legation in Paris in 1933.

Also on display is the camera Brancusi gave to Ion Alexandrescu, the head of the team of stonemasons with whom he worked on the Gate of the Kiss.

The exhibition is curated by art historian Eduard Enache.

'Brancusi did not allow others to photograph his sculptures. He set up a small photographic studio in a corner of his workshop, which he painted white (...). Brancusi's photographs are the only place where certain experiments he carried out still survive, (...) but they are also the only way in which Brancusi, who did not explain his works, speaks to us about his sculpture. Through photography, he showed us how he wanted us to see his works, how he wanted them to be displayed, how he wanted them to be lit and how he wanted them to be interpreted. (...) Brancusi's relationship with photography began in 1914, when, at his first solo exhibition in New York, at Alfred Stieglitz's gallery, he wrote to Stieglitz complaining that the photographer had produced very poor prints and saying that from then on he would take charge of photography himself and photograph his own works,' Eduard Enache explained.

The exhibition's scientific adviser is Doina Lemny, one of the leading scholars of Brancusi's work.

'I am so delighted to have been able to take part in this exhibition (...) because, after more than 30 years of close engagement with Brancusi, I can pass on to the younger generation what I have learned, what I have written and what I think. (...) I have grown attached to Targu Jiu. I came to Targu Jiu through what connects us all: Brancusi,' Doina Lemny said.

The exhibition opens alongside the International Conference 'The Philosophy of Form', organised under UNESCO patronage, which brings together leading Brancusi specialists from around the world in Targu Jiu for four days.

'We have joined the local authorities in the initiatives undertaken this year, 2026, the Year of Brancusi, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Constantin Brancusi's birth. There have been many events, and more are still to come. We are now hosting an extremely important event. (...) Today's fortunate occasion actually marks the beginning of a series of academic, artistic and cultural activities, as well as new opportunities for cultural and educational cooperation. We met a professor from an arts university in Korea, with whom we have already discussed possible institutional cooperation between our two universities,' said Luminita Popescu, rector of Constantin Brancusi University of Targu Jiu.

The exhibition opens on Thursday, 22 October, at 13:00 at Pavilion Art 360 in Targu Jiu and will remain open until 16 December 2026.

It is organised by Targu Jiu City Hall, Constantin Brancusi University of Targu Jiu and the Constantin Brancusi Research, Documentation and Promotion Centre in Targu Jiu. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Oana Popescu; EN - writing by: Simona Iacob)