Constantin Brâncuși

Constantin Brâncuși’s abstracted, unadorned sculptures and innovative material techniques widely influenced modernist sculpture, Minimalism, and Conceptualism. The artist created graceful, simple structures that frequently resembled biomorphic forms. He often used direct carving methods and rejected the more conventional modes that his one-time boss, Auguste Rodin, embraced. The forms and folklore of Cycladic, African, and Romanian cultures served as major inspirations. Throughout Brâncuși’s oeuvre, recurring sculptural motifs include spare human heads and phallic columns. Brâncuși found widespread success during his lifetime and has been the subject of shows at the Guggenheim Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, the Centre Pompidou, and Tate Modern. His novel approach to form and space influenced sculptural titans including Isamu Noguchi and Richard Serra. In 2018, Brâncuși’s La Jeune Fille Sophistiquée (Portrait de Nancy Cunard) fetched $71 million at auction.