Constantin Brancusi was a towering figure among early twentieth-century modern artists. Born in Romania, he worked in Paris for over fifty years, swiftly gaining an international reputation. His achievement in refining figurative elements in his sculptures into ever purer, near-abstract archetypal forms had a huge influence on the development of modern sculpture.
This fully illustrated survey focuses on the 'essential Brancusi', a selection of around forty works made by Carmen Giménez, curator at the Guggenheim Museum, New York. Essays by Giménez and Tate curator Matthew Gale, focus on the themes and series in Brancusi's work and the use of carving as opposed to modelling in clay that set him apart from his contemporaries.
An illustrated chronology, a bibliography and a selection of Brancusi's aphorisms, illustrated with photography of the artist's studio, complete this thorough an up-to-date reassessment of one of the twentieth century's greatest artists.