Brancusi’s ‘Endless Column,’ a Modernist Icon, Joins UNESCO’s World Heritage List

Five iconic sculptures by Constantin Brancusi that are located in the Romanian town of Targu Jiu have joined UNESCO‘s World Heritage list, a distinction that will afford them legal protection going forward.

The list, which also includes sites such as Stonehenge, the Taj Mahal, and Chichén Itzá, is intended to recognize places of cultural importance. It currently includes more than 1,200 sites globally.

Brancusi’s five sculptures were grouped together in one entry. The most famous work of the five, the 98-foot-tall sculpture Endless Column (1937–38), resembles a tower of cast-iron forms that rise into the sky. That work is considered a major example of modernist art for the way it distilled objects to their basics, representing them through abstraction.

Also included in the group are The Table of Silence, a place where viewers can sit on minimalist chairs, and The Gate of the Kiss, an arch whose form alludes to another famed Brancusi sculpture showing two people embracing.

These sculptures were crafted by Brancusi, a Romanian by birth who spent significant time in France during the 20th century, to honor those who died defending Targu Jiu during World War I.

UNESCO praised the ensemble of sculptures for the “remarkable fusion of abstract sculpture, landscape architecture, engineering, and urban planning conceived by Constantin Brâncuși goes far beyond the local wartime episode to offer an original vision of the human condition.”

Raluca Turcan, Romania’s culture minister, said, “The granted recognition forces us to protect the monumental ensemble, to keep it intact for future generations and for humanity’s cultural memory.”

Brancusi has received a swell of attention in Europe. In 2023, he was the subject of a retrospective in the Romanian city of Timisoara, marking the first time the artist had received such a show in his home country in half a century. This year, the Centre Pompidou in Paris staged another, separate retrospective that featured nearly 200 of his sculptures.