Curator, Anne Umland: I think part of why Brancusi continues to appeal is because even at its most abstract, there is still always something that allows you a point of entry. So, I encourage you to move around this platform and look at all of Brancusi’s sculptures in the round to see whether or not you can name their subject.
When Brancusi gets to Impasse Ronsin in 1916, he has been active as a sculptor for over a decade in Paris. On the platform at the center of this room, you get a sense of the variety of materials and subjects that he is exploring, and you’ll see some of his signature motifs.
So the sculpture of the bird, the highest work, is the first of over 30 sculptures of birds that Brancusi will make, searching, as he would say, for the essence of flight. He also returns again and again to the theme of children’s heads, of origins, of beginnings, like the life of a child or the egg as a shape, and similarly with the heads of sleeping muses, these very simple ovoids resting on their side.
And then in terms of materials, you can see plaster, limestone, marble, polished bronze, carved wood. And those types of materials are ones that Brancusi continues to work with for the next four decades.
Narrator: To hear more about the folk tale that inspired Maiastra, enter 6-0-1-1 into the search bar at the top of your screen. For the story behind how Brancusi made Mlle Pogany, enter the number 6-0-1-2.