The Infinite Column, also known as the Endless Column, is a sculpture created by the Romanian artist Constantin Brâncuși, part of the Trilogy of the Târgu Jiu Monumental Ensemble, alongside the Gate of the Kiss and the Table of Silence. Inaugurated on October 27, 1938, the column has a height of 29.35 meters and is composed of 16 octahedral modules stacked, with half a module at the lower and upper ends. The modules are referred to as “beads” by their author, Brâncuși.
The sculpture represents a stylized version of the funerary columns specific to southern Romania and was initially named the “Endless Gratitude Column”, dedicated to the Romanian soldiers who fell in World War I in the battles on the banks of the Jiu River.
There is evidence that the project of the column is much older, starting from 1909 when in Brâncuși’s workshop there would be “trunks and beams, truncated wooden columns.” The first exhibited version of a column, entitled “Architectural Project,” dates from 1918. Later, in 1933, Brâncuși exhibited the project under the now-famous name, the Endless Column, describing it as “a column project that, when enlarged, could support the celestial vault.”
The casting of the column was done in cast iron in September 1937 at the Central Workshops in Petroșani, under the coordination of engineer Ștefan Georgescu-Gorjan. The execution of the central pole was supervised by master craftsman Ion Romoșan, and the execution of the wooden model of the beads was done by master carpenter Carol Flisec in direct collaboration with Brâncuși.
The column consists of a metal core made of square tubing assembled in three sections, surrounded by 17 octahedral modules made of cast iron. The gilding of the column was done on-site, applying brass wire by spraying.
The work was commissioned by Aretia Tătărescu, who granted Brâncuși full freedom of action and supported him financially.
In the 1950s, the Romanian government planned to demolish the column, considering it an example of bourgeois sculpture, but the plan was never implemented.