Refining and concentrating the bird form, Brâncuși made his first Bird in Space in 1923, in marble. Later versions were made in bronze and plaster. Brâncuși began each work by making a plaster cast from a marble version of the sculpture. He would shape the plaster, altering its proportions, and then cast the result in bronze. Each Bird is therefore unique. “I never make reproductions,” Brâncuși explained; each sculpture is “a separate work made years apart. . . . If I change one dimension an inch all the other proportions have to be changed, and it is the devil’s job to do it.”
Gallery label from 2019
In 1923, Brâncuși refined the figure of the bird to its most concentrated form. The first Bird in Space was made from marble; bronze and plaster versions followed in the years and decades to come. Of the nine existing bronze versions of Bird in Space, no two are identical. In order to make each sculpture, Brâncuși began by creating a plaster cast based on a marble version of the sculpture, manipulating the plaster to alter its proportions, and then casting the result in bronze. This ensured the uniqueness of each Bird in Space. “I never make reproductions,” Brâncuși explained. Each sculpture is “a separate work made years apart. . . . And with this ‘bird in flight’ if I change one dimension an inch all the other proportions have to be changed, and it is the devil’s job to do it.”
Gallery label from Constantin Brâncuși Sculpture, 2018
