Background
Constantin Brancusi was born on February 19, 1876 in Hobita, Romanian United Principalities (present-day Hobita, Romania). He was a son of Nicolae Brancusi and Maria Brancusi. In 1952, Constantin became a French citizen.
1923
Constantin Brancusi (left) with Henri-Pierre Roché, Erik Satie and Jeanne Robert Foster playing golf.
1928
Paris, France
Constantine Brancusi by Andre Kertesz.
14 Rue Bonaparte, 75006 Paris, France
Brancusi studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts from 1905 till 1907.
Calea Griviței 28, București 010702, Romania
Brancusi enrolled at the National School of Fine Arts in Bucharest (present-day Bucharest National University of Arts) in 1898, where he remained till 1902.
A photographic portrait of the artist as a young man.
Brancusi in his studio.
Brancusi with dogs.
Constantin Brancusi.
Portrait of Constantin Brancusi.
Constantin Brancusi by Man Ray.
Constantin Brancusi in Paris Studio.
Constantin Brancusi smoking.
French Riviera, France
Constantin Brancusi, Marcel Duchamp, and Mary Reynolds lounging around on the French Riviera.
Paris, France
Photographer Wayne Miller captures the Romanian artist and pioneering sculptor Constantin Brancusi at his studio in Paris.
Portrait of Constantin Brancusi.
Self-portrait.
Self-portrait (In studio).
Self-portrait with a dog.
Paris, France
The artist in his studio in Paris, surrounded by his sculptural works.
(The elegant and exquisitely shaped sculptures of Constant...)
The elegant and exquisitely shaped sculptures of Constantin Brancusi (1876-1957) are easily among the most iconic sculptures created in the twentieth century. This volume includes 35 color images; a commentary by Carolyn Lanchner, a former curator of painting and sculpture at MoMA, accompanies each work, elucidating its significance and its context.
https://www.amazon.com/Constantin-Brancusi-Artist-Carolyn-Lanchner/dp/0870707876/?tag=2022091-20
2010
Constantin Brancusi was born on February 19, 1876 in Hobita, Romanian United Principalities (present-day Hobita, Romania). He was a son of Nicolae Brancusi and Maria Brancusi. In 1952, Constantin became a French citizen.
During the period from 1894 to 1898, Constantin studied at the School of Arts and Crafts in Craiova. In 1898, he enrolled at the National School of Fine Arts in Bucharest (present-day Bucharest National University of Arts), where he remained till 1902.
In 1904, Brancusi left for Paris. The following year, in 1905, he entered the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, where he remained until 1907.
In 1907, Constantin worked at Auguste Rodin’s studio, from whom he learned, that the purpose of sculpture is not merely the representation of the surface of forms, but the evocation of the inner force, that produces the surface. After leaving Rodin's workshop, Brancusi began developing the revolutionary style for which he was known.
By 1910, Brancusi's art took on the characteristics, which were to revitalize sculpture. He worked in stone, wood and bronze, perfecting his rendition of earlier themes. As his work evolved, Brancusi became immersed in the Parisian avant-garde. Though he was never a member of any organized art movement, his friends included Marcel Duchamp, Fernand Léger, Henri Matisse, Amedeo Modigliani and other painters and sculptors.
In 1913, the painter's works were exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants and the Armory Show. In 1920, he became notoriously known with the entry of Princess X in the Salon. The phallic appearance of this large, gleaming bronze piece scandalized the Salon and, despite Brâncuși's explanation that it was simply meant to represent the essence of womanhood, removed it from the exhibition.
Around this time Brâncuși began crafting the bases for his sculptures with much care and originality because he considered them important to the works themselves.
One of his major groups of sculptures involved the Bird in Space — simple abstract shapes representing a bird in flight. The works are based on his earlier Măiastra series. Over the following 20 years, Brâncuși made multiple versions of Bird in Space out of marble or bronze.
In 1935, Brancusi was commissioned to create a war memorial in Târgu Jiu, Romania, for which he designed a sculptural ensemble, that includes "The Table of Silence", "The Gate of Kiss" and a monumental "Endless Column". After 1939, Brancusi continued to work in Paris. In 1949, he completed his last sculpture, entitled "Grand Coq".
Later in his life, Constantin traveled throughout Europe, India and Asia, before returning to Paris, where he continued to work until his death in 1957.
(The elegant and exquisitely shaped sculptures of Constant...)
2010Prometheus
The signal
Torso of a Young Girl
The Kiss
Princess X
Table of Silence
Sleeping Muse
The Prayer
The Kiss
The Kiss
Golden Bird
Sleeping Muse II
Wisdom
Muse
Prodigal son
Two lamps
The cock
Madame L.R. (Portrait de Mme LR)
Golden Bird
The Sorceress
Bird in Space
The First Cry
The Seal
Fish
Madamoiselle Pogany
Princess X
The Gate of Kiss (part of the Sculptural Ensemble in Târgu Jiu)
Colette
Torso of a Young Man I
Arch
White Negress II
Sculpture for the Blind (Beginning of the World)
The Newborn
The Endless Column
The Kiss (Column)
Head
Madamoiselle Pogany
Bird in Space
Fish
Quotations:
"Create like a god, command like a king, work like a slave."
"What my work is aiming at is, above all, realism. I pursue the inner, hidden reality, the very essence of objects in their own intrinsic fundamental nature; this is my only deep preoccupation."
"When you see a fish you don't think of its scales, do you? You think of its speed, its floating, flashing body seen through the water... If I made fins and eyes and scales, I would arrest its movement, give a pattern or shape of reality. I want just the flash of its spirit."
"Things are not difficult to make; what is difficult is putting ourselves in the state of mind to make them."
"Architecture is inhabited sculpture."
Constantin was elected posthumously to the Romanian Academy in 1990.
Brancusi held a large spectrum of interests from science to music. He was a good violinist and he sang old Romanian folk songs, often expressing by them his feelings of homesickness. Also, Constantin was interested in Romanian mythology, folk tales and Romanian, African and Mediterranean art. He was Jack-of-all-trades, who built his own phonograph and made most of his furniture.
Constantin Brancusi always dressed in the simple ways the Romanian peasants did. Also, Constantin loved cigarettes, good wine and the company of women.
Constantin's relationships with Vera Moore, a New Zealand pianist, produced one child, John Moore.