The Romanian state would like to renegotiate the price for the acquisition of the Constantin Brâncuşi sculpture The Wisdom of the Earth, said Culture Minister Lucian Romaşcanu in an interview with Digi24.

After reaching an agreement with the owners of the statue to buy it for EUR 11 million, the Romanian government agreed to pay EUR 5 million from the state budget and decided to gather the rest of the money through public subscription that took place in 2016. The campaign failed to gather the needed sum and the Dacian Cioloș government came up with a bill that granted an additional amount from the state budget. However, the Parliament elected at the end of 2016 rejected the Cioloș government ordinance.

Romaşcanu said the sculpture is not worth EUR 11 million but less than half. He also said he did not donate any money in the public fundraising campaign because he thought “the price was exaggerated.”

“There were two other evaluations that put the value of the work at EUR 5 million. […] I think we can reach a consensus to talk over such an event at the fair market price,” the minister said at Digi24.

Referring to the Cathedral Plaza office building, the minister said that demolishing the project is “more dangerous than the construction itself.”

The Culture Ministry, after consultation with the National Commission for Historical Monuments, and upon the request of the owner, is the authority that can decide the demolition of the controversial office building, according to a recent statement from the Bucharest City Hall.

The building has been the subject of several legal disputes between the Catholic Archdiocese in Bucharest and the developers. The Archdiocese said the building affected both the image and the structure of the St. Iosif Cathedral, a historical monument. A court issued a final demolition order for Cathedral Plaza in 2013.

Minister Romaşcanu also said, in the Digi 24 interview, that an approval of the Historical Monuments Commission within the Culture Ministry is needed. The approval cannot be released in the absence of a fully documented file, which can only be provided by the owner of the building.

Brâncuși sculpture sells for record USD 57 million at New York auction

editor@romania-insider.com