Constantin Brâncuși
| Constantin Brâncuși | |
|---|---|
Photograph taken by Edward Steichen in 1922
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|
| Born |
February 19, 1876 Hobița, Romanian United Principalities |
| Died | March 16, 1957 (aged 81) Paris, France |
| Resting place | Cimetière du Montparnasse, Paris |
| Nationality | Romanian |
| Education | École des Beaux-Arts |
| Known for | Sculpture |
| Notable work |
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| Movement | Modernism |
| Awards | Election to Romanian Academy |
| Patron(s) | John Quinn |
Constantin Brâncuși (Romanian: [konstanˈtin brɨŋˈkuʃʲ]; February 19, 1876 – March 16, 1957) was a Romanian sculptor, painter and photographer who made his career in France. Considered a pioneer of modernism, one of the most influential sculptors of the 20th-century, Brâncuși is called the patriarch of modern sculpture. As a child he displayed an aptitude for carving wooden farm tools. Formal studies took him first to Bucharest, then to Munich, then to the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris from 1905 to 1907. His art emphasizes clean geometrical lines that balance forms inherent in his materials with the symbolic allusions of representational art. Brâncuși sought inspiration in non-European cultures as a source of primitive exoticism, as did Paul Gauguin, Pablo Picasso, André Derain and others. But other influences emerge from Romanian folk art traceable through Byzantine and Dionysian traditions.
Brâncuși grew up in the village of Hobiţa, Gorj, near Târgu Jiu, close to Romania's Carpathian Mountains, an area known for its rich tradition of folk crafts, particularly woodcarving. Geometric patterns of the region are seen in his later works.
His parents Nicolae and Maria Brâncuși were poor peasants who earned a meager living through back-breaking labor; from the age of seven, Constantin herded the family's flock of sheep. He showed talent for carving objects out of wood, and often ran away from home to escape the bullying of his father and older brothers.
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