Constantin Brâncuși was a Romanian sculptor who made his career in France and pioneered modernist sculpture. He is known for his abstract, clean geometric forms that emphasized the essence of his subjects over physical details. Some of his most famous works include Bird in Space, The Kiss, and The Column of the Infinite. Brâncuși's sculptures broke records at auction, with pieces from his Bird in Space series selling for over $27 million. He is considered one of the most influential sculptors of the 20th century.
2. Constantin Brâncuși
was a Romanian-born
sculptor who made his
career in France. As a
child he displayed an
aptitude for carving
wooden farm tools.
Formal studies took
him first to Bucharest,
then to Munich, then
to École des BeauxArts in Paris.
4. His abstract style emphasizes
clean geometrical lines that
balance forms inherent in his
materials with the symbolic
allusions of representational art.
5. Famous Brâncuși works
include the Sleeping Muse
(1908), The Kiss (1908),
Prometheus (1911),
Mademoiselle Pogany
(1913), The Newborn (1915),
Bird in Space (1919) and The
Column of the Infinite,
popularly known as The
Endless Column (1938).
Considered a pioneer of
modernism, Brâncuși is
called the patriarch of
modern sculpture.
6. Bird in Space
• Bird in Space (L'Oiseau dans
l'espace) is a series of
sculptures. The original work
was created in 1923. It was
sold in 2005 for $27.5 million,
at the time a record price for a
sculpture sold in an auction.
The original title in Romanian
is "Pasărea în văzduh. Seven of
the sculptures in the series are
made of marble, while the
other nine were cast in
bronze.
7. Bird in Space
In the Bird in Space
works, Brâncuși
concentrated not on the
physical attributes of the
bird, but instead on its
movement. The bird's
wings and feathers are
eliminated, the swell of
the body is
elongated, and the head
and beak are reduced to a
slanted oval plane
8. In 1926-27, Bird in Space was
the subject of a court battle over its
taxation by U.S. Customs. In October
1926, Bird in Space, along with 19
other Brâncuși sculptures, arrived in
New York harbor aboard the
steamship Paris.[ While works of art
are not subject to custom duties, the
customs officials refused to believe
that the tall, thin piece of polished
bronze was art and so imposed the
tariff for manufactured metal
objects, 40% of the sale price or about
$230 (over $2800 in 2010 U.S. dollars).
Marcel Duchamp (who accompanied
the sculptures from
Europe), American photographer
Edward Steichen (who was to take
possession of Bird in Space after
exhibition), and Brâncuși himself were
indignant; the sculptures were set to
appear at the Brummer Gallery in
New York City and then the Club Arts
13. In 2002, a sculpture by
Brâncuși named Danaide was
sold for $18.1 million, the
highest that a sculpture piece
had ever sold for at auction.
May 2005, a piece from
the Bird in Space series broke
that record, selling for $27.5
million in a Christie’s auction.
In the Yves Saint Laurent
Bergé sale on February
23, 2009, another sculpture of
Brâncuși, Madame L.R., was
sold for $37.2 million, setting a
new historical record.
14. Constantin Brâncuși
He died on March 16, 1957 at
the age of 81 leaving 1200
photographs and 215 sculptures. He
was buried in the Cimetière Du
Montparnasse in Paris. Also located
in that cemetery are statues carved
by Brâncuși for several fellow artists
who died; the best-known of these
is "Le Baiser" ("The Kiss").
His works are housed in the
Museum of Modern Art of New
York, the National Museum of Art of
Romania, Bucharest, and the
National Gallery of Art, Washington,
D.C., as well as in other major
museums around the world. The
Philadelphia Museum of Art
currently has the largest collection
of Brâncuși sculptures in the United
States.
