Editing Constantin Brâncuși (section)

==Personal life==
[[File:Brancusi, Roche, Satie & Foster 1923.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Brâncuși (left) with [[Henri-Pierre Roché]], [[Erik Satie]] and [[Jeanne Robert Foster]] playing golf in 1923]]

Brâncuși dressed simply, reflective of his Romanian peasant background. His studio was reminiscent of the houses of the peasants from his native region: there was a big slab of rock as a table and a primitive fireplace, similar to those found in traditional houses in his native [[Oltenia]], while the rest of the furniture was made by him out of wood. Brâncuși would cook his own food, [[Romanian cuisine|traditional Romanian dishes]], with which he would treat his guests.<ref name="Sandqvist, p. 249">Sandqvist, p. 249</ref>

Brâncuși held a large spectrum of interests, from science to music, and was known to play the violin. He would sing old Romanian folk songs, often expressing his feelings of [[homesickness]]. After the installment of [[communism]], the artist never permanently returned to his native Romania, but did visit eight times.<ref name="Sandqvist, p. 249"/><ref>Pavel Țugui, Dosarul Brâncuși, Editura Dacia, Cluj, 2001, p. 64</ref>

His circle of friends included artists and intellectuals in Paris such as [[Amedeo Modigliani]], [[Ezra Pound]], [[Henri Pierre Roché]], [[Guillaume Apollinaire]], [[Louise Bourgeois]], [[Pablo Picasso]], [[Man Ray]], [[Marcel Duchamp]], [[Henri Rousseau]], [[Peggy Guggenheim]], [[Tristan Tzara]], and [[Fernand Léger]]. He was an old friend of [[Romany Marie]],<ref name="Biography">Robert Shulman. ''[[Romany Marie]]: The Queen of [[Greenwich Village]]'' (pp. 85–86, 109). [[Louisville, Kentucky|Louisville]]: Butler Books, 2006.  {{ISBN|1-884532-74-8}}.</ref> who was also Romanian, and referred [[Isamu Noguchi]] to her café in [[Greenwich Village]].<ref name="Haber">{{cite web |url= http://www.haberarts.com/fuller.htm |title= Before Buckyballs |author= John Haber |website=Haber Arts}}</ref>
Although surrounded by the Parisian avant-garde, Brâncuși never lost contact with Romania and had friends from the community of Romanian artists and intellectuals living in Paris, including [[Benjamin Fondane]], [[George Enescu]], [[Theodor Pallady]], [[Camil Ressu]], [[Nicolae Dărăscu]], [[Panait Istrati]], [[Traian Vuia]], [[Eugène Ionesco]], [[Emil Cioran]], [[Natalia Dumitresco]], and [[Paul Celan]].<ref>Sandqvist, p. 249-250</ref> Another Romanian scholar wrote on Brâncuși, [[Mircea Eliade]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Eliade|first=Mircea|url=http://archive.org/details/symbolismsacreda00elia|title=Symbolism, the Sacred, and the Arts|editor-last=Apostolos-Cappadona|editor-first=Diane|date=1985|place=New York 
|publisher= Crossroad|via=Internet Archive|isbn=978-0-8245-0723-7|language=en, fr|author-link=Mircea Eliade|pages=81–85}}</ref>

Brâncuși held a particular interest in mythology, especially Romanian mythology, folk tales, and traditional art (which also had a strong influence on his works), but he became interested in African and Mediterranean art as well.<ref>Sandqvist, p. 250</ref>

A talented handyman, he built his own [[phonograph]] and made most of his furniture, utensils, and doorways. His worldview valued "differentiating the essential from the ephemeral," with [[Plato]], [[Lao-Tzu]], and [[Milarepa]] as influences. Reportedly, he had a copy of the first ever translation from the Tibetan into French of Jacques Bacot's Le poete tibetain Milarepa: ses crimes, ses épreuves, son Nirvana <ref>Bacot, Jacques. Le poète Tibétain Milarépa: ses crimes, ses épreuves, son Nirvana. Paris: Bossard, 1925</ref> that he kept by his bedside.<ref>Tabart, Marielle, Doïna Lemny, Marie-Luce Nemo, Anne-Marie Zucchelli-Charron, Constantin Brancusi, Centre Georges Pompidou, and Atelier Brancusi (Paris). La collection l'Atelier Brancusi. Paris: Editions du Centre Pompidou, 1997, p. 232, footnote 6</ref> He identified closely with Milarepa's mountain existence since Brancusi himself came from the Carpathian Mountains of Romania and he often thought he was a reincarnation of Milarepa.<ref>Tabart, Marielle, Doïna Lemny, Marie-Luce Nemo, Anne-Marie Zucchelli-Charron, Constantin Brancusi, Centre Georges Pompidou, and Atelier Brancusi (Paris). La collection l'Atelier Brancusi. Paris: Editions du Centre Pompidou, 1997, p. 232</ref> He was a saint-like <ref>Calinic, ev́êque. Brancusi et le psaume de la création / évêque Calinic ; [traduit par Elena Soare et Ileana Cantuniari]. Paris : Bucarest: Beauchesne ; Anastasia, 2003.</ref> idealist and near ascetic, turning his workshop into a place where visitors noted the deep spiritual atmosphere. However, particularly through the 1910s and 1920s, he was known as a [[hedonism|pleasure seeker]] and merrymaker in his [[bohemianism|bohemian]] circle. He enjoyed cigarettes, good wine, and the company of women. He had one child, John Moore, with the New Zealand pianist [[Vera Moore]]. He never acknowledged his son as his own.<ref name=brainjuice/><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=1686039 |title= Constantin Brancusi (1876–1957) |publisher= [[Christie's]] }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/11955/lot/98/|title=Bonhams : Alfred Wallis (1855–1942) Two boats 10 x 14 cm. (4 x 5 1/2 in.)|website=www.bonhams.com|access-date=August 14, 2016}}</ref>