by Francesca Lungarotti

There’s an important element that unites some of the most famous names in the 20th-century art scene: simplicity. This element exemplifies a return to origins, a return to purity and to lines that require no detail but are capable of expressing everything with less. Rodin, Picasso, and Modigliani have played a key role in this 20th-century art scene, culminating in a reflection on the return to purity in the oval faces of women strongly reminiscent of African wooden statues, where the symbol emerges above everything. Looking at things with the unconditional eyes of a child becomes central, and in this panorama, the work of Constantin Brancusi certainly plays a fundamental role.

Constantin Brancusi was born on February 19, 1876, in Hobița, Romania, and can undoubtedly be considered a pioneer of modern abstract sculpture. Brancusi successfully fused the sculptural tradition typical of his native Romania with the Futurist and Cubist artistic movements he discovered in Paris. The artist is known for his distinctive style, characterized by fluid lines, simplified forms, and an innovative use of materials such as bronze and marble. His quest for purity and the essence of form pushed him beyond his time and influenced many subsequent artists. It was in 1904 that he moved to Paris, the capital of art and culture, where he came into contact with the leading artists of the time, such as Picasso, Modigliani, and Duchamp, who shaped his approach to art in an osmotic exchange of influences. Thanks to the Parisian art scene, Brancusi had the opportunity to exhibit in important exhibitions and receive commissions from collectors and gallery owners, quickly earning a reputation as a pioneer of sculpture.

Rodin’s influence was evident in Brancusi’s work in 1908, in the first version of The Sleeping Muse, a sculpture depicting a female face whose features evoke a shapeless block of marble. But it was in 1908 that Brancusi created his first truly original work, The Kiss, in which the vertical figures of two intertwined adolescents form a closed volume with symmetrical lines.

In 1910, Brancusi executed a fundamental version of The Sleeping Muse. The sculpture is a solitary ovoid head, cast in bronze, with facial details drastically reduced to give the work soft, immaculate curves. Brancusi experimented frequently with this ovoid shape over the years, both in plaster and bronze. In 1924, he created an ovoid form in pure marble, devoid of any detail, titled “The Beginning of the World”; as the title suggests, for Brancusi this ovoid mass represented the very essence of form, or a sort of primordial foundation of form that the artist did not bother to alter with traditional sculptural modeling techniques.

Brancusi extended his experiments in formal simplification to explore the bird in 1912 with “Maiastra,” a sculpture named after a miraculous bird from Romanian folk legend. The marble, with the bird, purified its form.

His work resonated not only in Europe, at the Salon des Indépendants in Paris, but also at the Armory Shows in New York, Chicago, and Boston, where works such as Mademoiselle Pogany, a schematic bust that would have numerous variations, were exhibited. Already well-known in the United States, Brancusi found loyal collectors in the following decades.

Like many avant-garde European artists of the time, Brancusi was interested in African art, and his works reflected the African tradition of direct carving.

In the final years of his life, Brancusi continued to work in his home-studio in Paris, welcoming numerous students and continuing to perfect his sculptural technique. He died in 1957, leaving a precious artistic legacy.

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Sources:

Selz, Jean. “Constantin Brancusi”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 12 Mar. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Constantin-Brancusi. Accessed 11 February 2026.

Art Between the Lines; “Constantin Brancusi: the master of essential sculpture and universal harmony”; www.artetralerigheblog.it