Constantin Brancusi

Constantin Brancusi (February 19, 1876 – March 16, 1957), originally Constantin Br?ncu?i, was a Romanian sculptor, born in Hobi?a, Gorj, near T?rgu Jiu, where he placed his sculptural ensemble with The Table of Silence, The Gate of the Kiss and The Endless Column.

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Brancusi studied art at the ?coala de Meserii (school of arts and crafts) in Craiova from 1894 to 1898 and at the ?coala Na?ional? de Arte Frumoase (national school of fine arts) in Bucharest from 1898 to 1901. Willing to further his education in Paris, he arrived there in 1904 and enrolled in the ?cole des Beaux-Arts in 1905.

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As an art student he was influenced by Auguste Rodin, but his style moved beyond naturalist representation to stylized elegant forms. Brancusi was one of the first sculptors to experiment with abstract art (although never, in his own view, moving into pure abstraction). His sculptures became progressively smoother and less figurative, until only the barest outline of the original subject was left, venturing even farther away from figurative sculpture than his countryman and contemporary Dimitrie Paciurea.

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Brancusi produced a series of sculptures in metal called Bird in Space. Edward Steichen, a prominent photographer purchased one of these birds and tried to bring it into the United States. Under U.S. Customs code, works of art may be imported into the country duty-free. However, Customs officers did not accept the bird as a work of art and assessed a duty of $600 classifying it as a propeller blade. Subsequently a trial overturned the assessment.

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Constantin Brancusi lived and worked from 1925 to 1957 in his workshop, located impasse Ronsin, in the 15?me arrondissement of Paris. The original workshop has disappeared and has been rebuilt near the Centre Georges Pompidou.

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Located in the Montparnasse Cemetery are statues carved by Brancusi for a few fellow artists who committed suicide, the best-known of which is his Le Baiser.

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Brancusi died on March 16, 1957 and was buried in the Cimeti?re du Montparnasse, Paris, France.

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