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Constantin Brâncuși The Cock Paris 1924

  • Not on view

Brâncuși carved this work, including the cylindrical base, from a single piece of wild cherry wood. Its simplified form suggests the serrated outline of the comb that crowns a rooster’s head. While Brâncuși would go on to create other, larger versions of The Cock and had ambitions to erect one at a monumental scale, he made only two versions in wood, and this is the only one that survives. The Cock held particular significance for Brâncuși, who purportedly said time and again, “Le Coq c’est moi” (The Cock is me).

Gallery label from Constantin Brâncuși Sculpture, 2018
Medium
Cherry
Dimensions
47 5/8 x 18 1/4 x 5 3/4" (121 x 46.3 x 14.6 cm)
Credit
Gift of LeRay W. Berdeau
Object number
620.1959
Copyright
© Succession Brancusi - All rights reserved (ARS) 2018
Department
Painting and Sculpture

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1959 The Museum of Modern Art, New York (purchased from the heirs of the artist)

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