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Abstract Representations:Constantine Brâncuşi
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Enduring Understanding
Students will understand that…how abstract art brought about new energies and dimensions in artistic creation.
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Overarching1) How has abstraction affected our way of
viewing art? 2) What can abstraction achieve that
realistic art cannot?
Topical1) What is the essence of life?2) How does one express the essence
of life?
Essential Questions
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5W1H
HowSculptures
WhyTheosophyCosmology
WhatEssence vs. Form
WhichAbstraction
WhereRomania
Paris
When1876 - 1957
ConstantineBrâncusi
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Bio-Data1976: Born in Hobia, Romania. 1884: Entered School of Arts and Crafts in Craiova.1903: Went to Paris.1907: Spent one month as an apprentice to Rodin.1909: Saw Matisse and Apollinaire’s works.
Inspired by tribal masks and sculptures.1910: First version of Maiastra.1926: Bird in Space1937: Went to India.1952: Became a French citizen.
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1905: The emergence of Fauvism.1906: Retrospective exhibition of
Gauguin’s work.1914: World War I1939: World War II started in Europe.1947: The Communists took over and
remained under the control of USSR.
When (1876- 1957)
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Romania Romania declared neutrality during WW1 but
was subsequently pressured to join the allies. Romania was drawn into the Axis Power
(Germany, Italy and Japan), failing to stay neutral this time round.
She changed sides later and joined The Allies.
Where (1876-1957 specific to place)
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Where (1876-1957 specific to place)
Paris The center of arts in Europe. Emergence of various art movements. Eg:- The Impressionists, Post-
Impressionists and the Fauvists.
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WhichAbstraction Brancusi was the first of the modern
sculptors. Image which departs from
representational accuracy. The abstraction is carried out to a
variable range of degrees. In the case of Brancusi, he selects
and simplifies the form.
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Subject Matter Folklore
Theme Essence
What
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Background His apprenticeship to Auguste Rodin.
Why
The Kiss/Le Baiser by Auguste Rodin , 1901-4.
Pentelican Marble, 18.2 x 12.1 x 15.3 cmBequest of Florene M. Schoenborn
The Kiss by Brancusi 1908. Wood, wax and metal
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Why
Background He was a complex and rather mysterious man. His interests ranged from Science to Music. He had an intense love for craftsmanship - a
talented handyman who made his furniture and utensils.
He grew up in a village well-known for its folk-crafts and ornate wood-carvings.
His other influences- African and Oriental art.
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Why• Brancusi rejected Rodin’s 19th-century emphasis on theatricality and accumulation of detail in favour of radical simplification and abbreviation.
• He suppressed all decoration and explicit narrative referents in an effort to create pure and resonant forms.
• His goal was to capture the essence of his subjects, which included birds in flight, fish, penguins, and a kissing couple and render them visible with minimal formal means.
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Philosophy To differentiate the essential from the
ephemeral (the transience and short-living). His values taken from the writings of Plato
(Greek), Lao Tze (Chinese) and Jetsun Milarepa (Tibetan).
He was an idealist, almost ascetic in his approach to life.
His workshop reeked with spiritual atmosphere.
In contradiction, during the 1910s and 1920s, he turned to pleasure seeking and merry-making within his Bohemian circle.
Why
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Direct carving instead of casting. Carving- the sculptor works directly on the
medium, eg: stone. Casting- the sculptor uses clay or plaster as
a mould for the medium. From 1908 onwards, Brancusi worked
primarily via carving, unlike his contemporaries who casted.
He would simplify his forms into geometric or sparse objects.
Providing bases for his sculptures is important.
How
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How • The art of Brancusi encompassed the
nature of materials in all its manifestations.
• He finished his bronzes and marbles to a degree of perfection rarely seen in the history of sculpture.
• At the same time, he placed these polished shapes on roughly carved stone pedestals, or on bases hacked out of tree trunks, in order to attain a mystical fusion of disembodied light-reflecting surfaces and solid, earthbound mass.
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2 Styles:
(1) Carved and modelled exquisitely refined forms: - Embodiments of absolute perfection. - Confront viewer with their physically - provocative and magnetic presences. - Meditative
(2) A series of rough, tough sculptures: - Carved from old pieces of wood. - Influenced by African carvings. - Powerful & Dramatic
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His Materials:-BrassBronzeMarbleMetalStone Wood
How
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The Prayer
The Prayer, 1907
Bronze on wood
This sculpture is his first step to abstraction.
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The Kiss, 1908
Alvastone with Aged Stone Finish
Philadelphia Museum of Art
His Kisses…
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His Kisses…
The Kiss, 1912Limestone, 58.4 x 33.7 x 25.4
cmPhiladelphia Museum of Art
Years of maturity, c 1907–34(i) Direct carvings and bronzes
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Years of maturity, c 1907–34(i) Direct carvings and bronzes
Head of Sleeping Child, 1908 Pompidou, Paris
His Ovoids…
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Years of maturity, c 1907–34(i) Direct carvings and bronzes
The Newborn, 1920Bronze, 14.6 x 21 x 14.6 cm
Museum of Modern Art, New York
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Years of maturity, c 1907–34(i) Direct carvings and bronzes
The Newborn, 1915.Marble, 8.5 x 6 inches
Philadelphia Museum of Art.
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His Muses…
Sleeping Muse, 1910, BronzeMetropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Years of maturity, c 1907–34(i) Direct carvings and bronzes
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His Muses…
Sleeping Muse, 1909-10
Hirschhorn Museum
Years of maturity, c 1907–34(i) Direct carvings and bronzes
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His Muses…
Muse (La Muse), 1912. White marble,
17 3/4 x 9 x 6 3/4 inches.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Years of maturity, c 1907–34(i) Direct carvings and bronzes
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Princess X, 1915-16Polished bronze, limestone
block 61.7 x 40.5 x 22.2 cmThe Louise and Walter
Arensberg Collection
This phallic sculpture caused a stir at the Salon (Société des Artistes Indépendants) and was removed from the exhibition in 1920.
Years of maturity, c 1907–34(i) Direct carvings and bronzes
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Years of maturity, c 1907–34(ii) Works in wood
The Sorceress, 1916-1924. Walnut on limestone base, 44 7/8 x 19 x 25 1/4 inches
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.
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Years of maturity, c 1907–34(ii) Works in wood
Adam and Eve, Adam and Eve executed separately
ca. 1916. Chestnut (Adam) and oak (Eve), on
limestone base, 94 x 18 3/4 x 18 1/4 inches overall. Solomon R. Guggenheim
Museum
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Years of maturity, c 1907–34(ii) Works in wood
Socrates. 1922.
Oak (111 x 28.8 x 36.8 cm), on oak footing (18.8
x 24.6 x 27 cm), overall 130 cm high. Limestone cylinder, 30.2 cm high.
Peggy Guggenheim Collection
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Years of maturity, c 1907–34(ii) Works in wood
The Cock, 1924. Cherry, 121 x 46.3 x 14.6 cm,
Peggy Guggenheim Collection
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Bird Series…
Maiastra, 1912 . Polished brass, height 73.1
cm, including base.Guggenheim Museum,
New York
Years of maturity, c 1907–34(i) Direct carvings and bronzes
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Bird Series…
Maiastra, 1912 . White marble (55.9 cm) high, on three-part limestone pedestal (177.8 cm) high, of which the middle section is Double Caryatid, c.1908 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Years of maturity, c 1907–34(i) Direct carvings and bronzes
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What- Maiastra
In Romanian folklore, the Maiastra is a beautiful bird, golden in colour.
It has powers that can predict the future and cure the blind.
His “Bird in Space” series are based on the Maiastra
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Bird in Space, 1923. Marble, 144.1 x 16.5 cm
Bequest of Florene M.Schoenborn
Bird Series..Years of maturity, c 1907–34
(i) Direct carvings and bronzes
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Bird Series…
Bird in Space (L’Oiseau dans l’espace),1932 - 1940
Polished brass, Height, including base: 151 cm
Guggenheim Museum, New York
Years of maturity, c 1907–34(i) Direct carvings and bronzes
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Beginning of the World, 1920Marble, metal and stone, 76.2 x 50.8 x 50.8
cm.Dallas Museum of Art, Texas
Years of maturity, c 1907–34(i) Direct carvings and bronzes
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Years of maturity, c 1907–34(i) Direct carvings and bronzes
Fish, 1930. Blue-gray marble (53.3 x 180.3 x 14 cm), on three-part pedestal of one marble (13 cm) high, and two limestone cylinders
(33 cm) high and (27.9 cm) high x (81.5 cm) diameter at widest point.
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Târgu Jiu
Table of Silence, 1937-38.Limestone, table, 215cm in diameter
Târgu Jiu , Romania
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Târgu Jiu
Gate of Kiss, 1937-38.Stone, 514 x 545 cmTârgu Jiu , Romania
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Târgu Jiu
Endless Column, 1937-38.Cast iron, 2933 cm.Târgu Jiu , Romania
After restoration at 2000.
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Târgu Jiu – Endless Column
Detail of module showing disk removed for testing.
Detail of restored module ready to be repositioned.
Detail of surface damage.
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Târgu Jiu – Endless Column
This sculpture, based on the symbolism of the axis mundi, was made as a tribute to the young Romanians who died in World
War I fighting Germany, and is a stylization of the funerary pillars used in
Southern Romania.
The Endless Column is 29.33 meters high and composed of 17 rhombus-shaped
modules made out of cast iron.
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Târgu Jiu Târgu Jiu is the capital of Gorj County, Oltenia,
Romania. Brancusi’s sculptures in Târgu Jiu constitutes of
the Table of Silence, the Gate of Kiss and the Endless Column.
This ensemble of works is a monument for WWI. It commemorates the courage of Romanian
heroes who were sacrificed when fighting off German invasion in 1916.
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River Jiu
Table of Silence
Gate of Kiss
Endless ColumnPlan of the monumental ensemble
at Târgu Jiu
1.60 metres
29.33 metres
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Târgu Jiu
1. The Table of Silence represents the table theSoldiers joined before facing the enemy. The Chairs represent the time disposed like those of sand glasses.
2. The Gate of Kiss is the gate to another life.The motifs on the columns represent the eyes.
3. The Endless Column is a monolithic spiritual testament to their heroism, like a stairway to heaven.
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References
http://en.wikipedia.org http://www.moma.org/collection/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=XilZfSZFLbY&feature=PlayList&p=3B97511D92ACF2B8&index=59
