Constantin Brancusi: Sculpting the Essence of Things

ISBN-13: 9781861713384 / Angielski / Miękka / 2012 / 180 str.

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CONSTANTIN BRANCUSI

Constantin Brancusi is one of the greatest of all sculptors, and a key sculptor of the modern era, along with Auguste Rodin and Pablo Picasso. Brancusis influence can be seen in a wide range of Western sculptors, including Donald Judd, Carl Andre, Henry Moore, Jean Arp, Barbara Hepworth, Minimalists and land artists.

This new book studies the religious and mythical dimensions of Constantin Brancusis distinctive scultpural forms, the eggs, fishes, heads and columns. His central quest was for the essence of things, which resulted in purifying a form until only the essence was left.

It was Constantin Brancusis project to strip away the detritus that had accumulated around sculpture, Henry Moore said, and to offer the pure, simple shape. What Brancusi did was to concentrate on very simple shapes, to keep his sculpture, as it were, one-cylindered, to refine and polish a single shape to a degree almost too precious.

As well as being a sculptor, Constantin Brancusi was also an accomplished photographer. Quite a few artists (not all of them sculptors) have expressed  for Brancusis photographs, and the way he would set up his sculptures in his studio and photograph them at particular times of the day, when the lighting was just right. They are early examples of installation art (and some of the best, too). Andy Goldsworthy said he admired how Brancusi created the right conditions in his studio so that his work comes alive at a particular time of the day as the light momentarily touches it. For Goldsworthy, Brancusis works were at their best when they were arranged by the sculptor in his studio and photographed. Somehow, it wasnt quite the same when they were displayed in modern art museums (such as the Pompidou Centre in Paris or the Museum of Modern Art in Gotham, which have important Brancusi pieces).

Fully illustrated, including many photos of Constantin Brancusis studio in Paris, Brancusis works in museums in New York, Washington and L.A., and the art of his contemporaries.

With bibliography and notes. ISBN 9781861713384. 180 pages.

This new (5th) edition has been revised.

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AUTHORS NOTE: The art of Constantin Brancusi never ceases to fascinate and inspire, and it always seems fresh, as if it had been created fives minutes ago, no matter how many times you look at it. When you encounter a Brancusi sculpture in a museum, it pops out, clear and direct; there is simply nothing else like Brancusis art in history. I have tried to explore the key elements of Brancusis art, and the important events in his development as a sculptor. I have also included comparisons with other artists of the period, and also how Brancusis art has influenced many subsequent artists.