Personal objects of famous Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi will go on sale at a special auction organized by local auction house Artmark this September.

The owner of the items will donate part of the money raised from this auction to the public campaign for Brancusi’s Wisdom of the Earth (Cumintenia Pamantului) sculpture.

There are 12 lots on sale, which include two of Brancusi's travel suitcases, two suits, a Burberry overcoat, his work vest, and a censer he designed himself and used in his workshop in Paris. The most expensive item on sale is the French suitcase he used in his voyages to the U.S., with the original stamps on it, which has a starting price of EUR 6,125. Interested buyers can also buy the whole collection, with the price starting at EUR 50,000.

"After spending more than 20 years acquiring objects that belonged to the man and artist Constantin Brancusi, but also after the experience of the Artcurial auction in November 2010, collector Emilian Radu decided that it is time these objects enter into the possession of other people who want them, by auctioning them," reads a statement from Artmark auction house.

Emilian Radu would ideally want the buyer of these items to use them for setting up a public exhibition dedicated to Brancusi, something that he couldn't do due to lack of resources.

The auction will take place at Artmark on September 27, starting 19:30. Emilian Radu will donate 50% of the earnings to the fundraising campaign organized in Romania for Wisdom of the Earth. Moreover, Artmark will also make a similar gesture, by donating the fee the auction house usually gets from the seller.

With just two weeks left of the fundraising campaign, the Romanian Government has managed to raise only 14% of the EUR 6 million it should collect by end-September.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com