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Wikipedia entry
Introduction
Constantin Brâncuși (Romanian: [konstanˈtin brɨŋˈkuʃʲ] ; February 19, 1876 – March 16, 1957) was a Romanian sculptor, painter, and photographer who made his career in France. Considered one of the most influential sculptors of the 20th century and a pioneer of modernism, Brâncuși is called the patriarch of modern sculpture. As a child, he displayed an aptitude for carving wooden farm tools. Formal studies took him first to Bucharest, then to Munich, then to the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris from 1905 to 1907. His art emphasizes clean geometrical lines that balance forms inherent in his materials with the symbolic allusions of representational art. Brâncuși sought inspiration in non-European cultures as a source of primitive exoticism, as did Paul Gauguin, Pablo Picasso, André Derain, and others. However, other influences emerge from Romanian folk art traceable through Byzantine and Dionysian traditions.
Wikidata
Q153048
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Getty record
Introduction
Born 21 February 1876; died 16 March 1957. Brancusi was trained as a sculptor in Romania before moving to Paris in 1904. There he studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts and exhibited at the Salon d'Automne. Brancusi quickly became accepted as a member of the Paris avant-garde, as his sculptures departed from the 19th century Western trend toward naturalism and eroticism, and were based instead on non-Western and so-called 'primitive' sculpture. In 1914 Alfred Stieglitz exhibited Brancusi's sculptures at his Photo-Secession gallery in New York, earning Brancusi an international reputation. His sculptures from this period were of two distinct types: elegant, abstract marble or bronze forms, such as the 'bird' sculptures based on a Romanian legend, and rougher carvings made of wood, like his series of 'endless columns'. Brancusi was also known for paying special attention to the bases on which his sculptures were displayed, believing that the pedestal was part of the sculpture itself. He is often referred to as one of the most important sculptors of the 20th century.
Nationalities
Romanian, French
Gender
Male
Roles
Artist, Woodcarver, Assemblage Artist, Art Theorist, Painter, Photographer, Sculptor
Names
Constantin Brancusi, Constantin Brâncuşi, Constantin Brincusi, Constantin Brîncuși, Brancusi, brancussi
Ulan
500016157
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Information from Getty’s Union List of Artist Names ® (ULAN), made available under the ODC Attribution License

Works

36 works online

Exhibitions

View all 92 exhibitions

Publications

  • MoMA Highlights: 375 Works from The Museum of Modern Art Introduction by Glenn D. Lowry, 2019 Flexibound, 408 pages
  • MoMA Now: Highlights from The Museum of Modern Art—Ninetieth Anniversary Edition Introduction by Glenn D. Lowry, 2019 Hardcover, 424 pages
  • Among Others: Blackness at MoMA Charlotte Barat and Darby English, 2019 Hardcover, 488 pages
  • Being Modern: Building the Collection of the Museum of Modern Art Edited by Quentin Bajac, 2017 Exhibition catalogue, Hardcover, 288 pages
  • Photography at MoMA: 1920 to 1960 Edited by Quentin Bajac, Lucy Gallun, Roxana Marcoci, and Sarah Hermanson Meister, 2016 Hardcover, 416 pages
  • Inventing Abstraction, 1910-1925: How a Radical Idea Changed Modern Art Leah Dickerman, 2012 Exhibition catalogue, Hardcover, 376 pages
  • Constantin Brâncuși Carolyn Lanchner, 2010 Paperback, 48 pages
  • The Original Copy: Photography of Sculpture, 1839 to Today Roxana Marcoci. Essays by Roxana Marcoci, Geoffrey Batchen, and Tobia Bezzola, 2010 Exhibition catalogue, Hardcover, 256 pages
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