Constantin Brâncuși

Lore & Background

Constantin Brâncuși was born on February 19, 1876, in the village of Hobița, in Gorj County, to parents Nicolae Radu and Maria Brâncuși. As a child, he displayed an aptitude for carving wooden farm tools. He attended primary school in Peștișani from 1884 to 1887, then left home at age eleven to work in Târgu Jiu, later moving to Craiova in 1889. In 1894, he entered the Craiova School of Arts and Crafts, studying drawing, modeling, woodcarving, and cabinetmaking, completing the course in 1898. He then entered the National School of Fine Arts in Bucharest, receiving his diploma in 1902. In 1903, he left Bucharest for Western Europe, walking much of the journey, and arrived in Paris on July 14, 1904.

In Paris, Brâncuși worked as a dishwasher and passed the entrance examination for the École des Beaux-Arts in June 1905. He exhibited for the first time in 1906. In March 1907, he began working as an assistant to Auguste Rodin but left after only a few weeks, stating, 'Nothing grows in the shade of large trees.' He rented a studio at 54 rue du Montparnasse in March 1908, where he remained until 1916. He moved away from modeling in clay or plaster for casting, beginning to carve stone and wood directly. His works were exhibited at the Armory Show in 1913, and his first solo exhibition in the United States was held at 291, the gallery operated by Alfred Stieglitz, from March 12 to April 4, 1914.

Reader's Guide

Constantin Brâncuși's significance lies in his role as a pioneer of modernism and his influence on 20th-century sculpture. His practice emphasized clean geometrical lines and direct carving, moving away from the modeling traditions of his time. He drew inspiration from Romanian folk art and non-European cultures, seeking a source of primitive exoticism similar to Paul Gauguin, Pablo Picasso, and André Derain. His work provoked both laughter and argument when first shown in the United States at the Armory Show in 1913, with commentators comparing Mademoiselle Pogany to an egg. Brâncuși also photographed his sculptures and tested different arrangements for them inside his studio. His legacy includes his influence on modern sculpture and his sustained contact with materials, balancing form with symbolic allusions.

Did You Know?

• As a child, Brâncuși displayed an aptitude for carving wooden farm tools.
• At age eighteen, he made a violin from materials he found at his workplace.
• He worked as a dishwasher at the Brasserie Chartier during his first months in Paris.
• In 1920, the organizers of the Salon des Indépendants excluded Princess X because they regarded its shape as phallic.

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"There are idiots who define my work as abstract; yet what they call abstract is what is most realistic. What is real is not the appearance, but the idea, the essence of things." — Constantin Brâncuși "Sculptura pe Internet. Caiete Silvane magazine. Retrieved on 2008-11-01." — Constantin Brâncuși "I ground matter to find the continuous line. And when I realized I could not find it, I stopped, as if an unseen someone had slapped my hands." — Constantin Brâncuși "Original in Romanian: Am șlefuit materia pentru a afla linia continuă. Și când am constatat că n‑o pot afla, m‑am oprit; parcă cineva nevăzut mi‑a dat peste mâini." — Constantin Brâncuși