Constantin Brancusi, Romanian, born 1876, Hobitza, Romania; died 1957, Paris, France
These photos were taken in the collections of five museums on the North American east coast.
At the Philadelphia Art Museum the room in which Brancusi’s sculptures are displayed is very high-ceilinged. It is painted white with high, semicircular arches like a Romanesque church.
A churchy balcony overlooks the room on two sides. Nothing is on this balcony. You return your eyes quickly to the sculptures.
The sculptures are arranged in alcoves like objects of veneration.
At the far end, Brancusi’s Bird in Space (Yellow Bird) stretches upwards while Mademoiselle Pogany looks demurely down.
Newborn (I), white marble, 1915. Philadelphia Art Museum
Mademoiselle Pogany, III, 1931, white marble, limestone and oak base.
Behind Mademoiselle Pogany is Bird in Space (Yellow Bird); c. 1923-24; yellow marble, marble, limestone and oak base
And close to her is a very famous limestone:
The Kiss, 1916, limestone
On an oak bench of 1914-16, a Torso of a Young Girl III, c. 1923
Sleeping Muse, marble, front and back, 1910-1911.
In the collections of the Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, DC
White Negress (I), 1923; veined marble, marble base
Three Penguins, marble, 1911-1912
Torso of a young man (I), 1917-22, maple on a limestone base
Prodigal Son, c. 1914-15, oak, limestone base
Princess X, 1915-16, polished bronze, limestone base
Fish, veined marble, 1922, marble and oak base
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Maiastra, 1912, white marble, marble base
A Bird in Space, 1925 of marble, stone and wood; a second Bird in Space, 1927, of brass, cast stone and wood; and a Maiastra, 1911, of polished bronze. The black sculpture is called Agnes E. Meier, dates to 1929 and is made of marble.
Solomon R. Guggenheim, NY
Muse, 1912, marble on an oak base. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, NY
Adam and Eve (carved separately c. 1916) 1921, chestnut (Adam), oak (Eve) on a limestone base
King of Kings, c.1938, oak
The Sorceress, 1916-1924, walnut on limestone base. Shown on Watchdog, 1916, oak
The Miracle (Seal (I)), c. 1930-1932. Marble on limestone base
Flying Turtle, 1940-1945. Marble on limestone base
The King of Kings in company with the Sorceress and Adam and Eve
MOMA, NY from an exhibition in 2018
View of display of Brancusi sculptures at MOMA, NY in 2018
Fish, 1930, blue-gray marble, on three-part pedestal of one marble and two limestone cylinders. MOMA, NY
Maiastra, 1910-12, white marble on three-part limestone pedestal of which the middle section is Double Caryatid, c. 1908
