Constantin Brancusi (February 19, 1876 – March 16, 1957) was a Romanian born sculptor who was at the forefront of modernism and abstraction. Brancusi was renowned for his devotion to breaking complexity down to its base elements, while

maintaining the objects depth and spirit. "Simplicity is complexity resolved," is one of the artist’s most famous quotes on this subject. Even this quote expresses his goals of depth via shallower means.

These ideas of complexity resolved can trace its roots to his youth in Romania. Resting quietly near the Carpathian Mountains, Brancusi’s village was a

small peasant community of farmers and herders, his own family being traditional sheep herders. This simple life can easily be considered a paramount influence on not only his life, but his art. Often, Bra

ncusi could be found out in the fields whittling away at a piece of wood, something he showed considerable talent at.

Brancusi’s ideas of woodworking easily transitioned themselves into the strange and wonderful abstracts he would soon astound the world with. His formal training included his attendance at the School of Crafts in Craiova, Romania in 1898, and later the Bucharest School of Fine Arts where he studied until 1903. In 1903, an

interesting point in Brancusi’s life appeared in the invitation to work and study directly under the renowned sculptor August Rodin at his personal studios. By this time, however, Brancusi had begun to build upon his own unique style with his first truly substantial work “The Prayer” (1), which shows the early stages of the visual and philosophical elements of Brancusi’s future works. In truth, Brancusi only spent 2 months at Rodin’s workshops, leaving under the notion that, while he truly respected Rodin, “Nothing can grow under big trees.”

From here, Brancusi would indeed grow in his own light, creating many of his most famous works, such as “The Kiss” (2), and “Sleeping Muse” (3). It wasn’t until 1913, however, that Brancusi would gain true notoriety with his work dedicated to Princess Marie Bonaparte, the renowned psycho-sexual analyst. The piece was “Princess X” (4) and it was to be a creation that most weren’t ready for. The piece depicted, as did most of Brancusi’s works, a far more complex reality and history than the actual shape of the piece. The work depicted Bonaparte’s extreme research into frigidity and the complexity of female sexual satisfaction via a large brass phallus. While the “model” truly app

reciated and accepted the work as a valid understanding and representation of her work, the modern art world at the time was not quite ready to think through the form to find meaning.

From here, Brancusi would refine his simple forms in truly inspiring ways, wrought with depth and imagination. At this time, Brancusi composed one of his most well known series of bronze castings, known as “Bird in Space” (5). The piece depicts a bird in the act of flight with as few contours as possible. This piece truly exemplifies Brancusi’s work towards his ideas of complexity resolved, with its subtle curves moving straight up into space as if the bird was rocketing heavenward.

Constantin Brancusi is truly one of the fathers of modern sculpture, and more importantly, his works are some of the most influential in our own perceptions of not only sculpture, but all art.