Assistant Curator, Mia Matthias: My name is Mia Matthias, and I am a part of the curatorial team for this exhibition.
Brancusi made the works in this gallery after he had moved to Impasse Ronsin. This is a moment where he was really interested in exploring direct carving as a method. That’s very evident in a number of his wood sculptures from this period. But it’s also the beginning of him moving his works around 8 Impasse Ronsin.
I think for Brancusi, the role of the pedestal felt quite blurry, and as if it could be transformed into an art object quite easily. So he explores the idea of combining different bases and sculptures. It feels like endlessly buildable and recombinable material.
For example, let’s look at Exotic Plant, which is the work that consists of three circular wooden forms atop a jagged geometric limestone base. When you look at photographs of the work in Brancusi’s studio, the entire object is at times placed on top of another pedestal. So it becomes clear that he understood Exotic Plant to not necessarily be the wooden portion on top of the limestone but the entirety of the object.
And then, of course, there’s the Cup. This is something that you see recur across his works. He positions cups on different bases and different locations. And it almost feels as if he’s poking fun at the idea of anything you place on a pedestal, people will think is important.
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