Artist

Constantin Brancusi

1876–1957 · French, born Romanian

Constantin Brancusi was born in rural Hobița, Romania, trained in craft and fine art, and moved to Paris in 1904. After briefly working in Auguste Rodin’s orbit, he developed a practice based on direct carving, serial refinement and an unusually close attention to the character of wood, stone and polished bronze. Rather than model descriptive anatomy, Brancusi repeatedly reduced a small set of motifs—heads, birds, fish, columns—until shape, surface and pedestal became inseparable. His Paris studio itself evolved into an installation-like environment in which sculptures were grouped, regrouped, photographed and understood in relation to one another.

Sculpture; photography; drawing; film; furniture and pedestal design