Early 20th Century Sculpture

Ernst Barlach (1870-1938)

G l t hi ti t d itGerman sculptor, graphic artist, and writer.

He sculpted several war memorials for the Weimar Republic.

Barlach wrote Expressionist plays that heBarlach wrote Expressionist plays that he illustrated with woodcuts and lithographs.

Th fl ti h fThe floating human form, suspended above a tomb inscribed with the dates 1914-18 and the later added 193918 and the later added 1939-1945, suggests a dying soul.

The Nazis melted it down for iti b t l kilammunition but luckily a

friend of Barlach hid another version of this sculpture.

Ernst Barlach, War Monument, from Güstrow Cathedral, Güstrow, Germany, 1927, Bronze

Emil Nolde The ProphetEmil Nolde, The Prophet, woodcut, 1912Ernst Barlach, War Monument, from

Güstrow Cathedral, Güstrow, Germany, 1927, BronzeGermany, 1927, Bronze

Constantin Brâncuşi (1876-1957)

A Romanian sculptor who settled in F Photographs,1933-34France.

He was one of the most influential 20th-century sculptors, but he left a relatively small body of workrelatively small body of work centred on 215 sculptures, of which about 50 are thought to have been l t d t dlost or destroyed.

Constantin Brancusi's studioConstantin Brancusi s studio,as reconstructed 1977-1990 at the Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou FranceCentre Georges Pompidou, France.

Constantin Brâncuşi , Sleep. Marble, 1908

Constantin Brâncuşi, Suffering, Bronze, 1907

Later Brancusi developed his own geometric style by reducing natural forms to an abstract simplicity.

He took up carving in both wood and stone, techniques traditionally associated with craftsmen and folk artand folk art.

Constantin Brâncuşi , Sleep. Marble, 19081908

Constantin Brancusi, Sleeping Muse, bronze marble 1909-1910bronze, marble 1909-1910

Constantin Brâncuşi -The Kiss, 1912

The embracing couple are schematic figures, acting as a sign of ideal unionas a sign of ideal union.

Constantine Brancusi. Kiss.1912. Stone. Philadelphia

Museum of ArtMuseum of Art

Auguste Rodin. The Kiss,1886 1898 Marble 5' 111886-1898. Marble, 5 11 1/4" high. Musée Rodin, Paris.

Pablo Picasso, Glass of Absinthe, 1914. Painted bronze with silver absinth spoon. 8 ½ “ high, base diameter 2 ½ “.

Pablo Picasso, Mandolin and Clarinet 1913 Painted Constantin Brâncuşi - The

Kiss, Stone. 1912 and Clarinet, 1913. Painted wood construction with cardboard, paper, and pencil marks 58x36x23 cmpencil marks. 58x36x23 cm.

Constantin Brancusi, Sleeping Muse, bronze,

marble 1909-1910

Constantin Brâncuşi , Maiastra, 1910-12, ş , , ,Polished brass, H. 28 ¾” (73.1 cm).

The word maïastra means “master” orThe word maïastra means master or “chief” in Brancusi’s native Romanian, but the title refers specifically to a magically beneficent, dazzlingly plumed g y , g y pbird in Romanian folklore.

Constantin Brancusi, Bird in Space, 1925Space, 9 5White marble on a base of wood and limestone, ,5' 11 5/8". National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC,

Constantin Brancusi, Bird in Space 1923in Space, 1923

White Marble; H. (with base) 56 3/4 in (144 13/4 in. (144.1

cm), Diam. 6 1/2 in. (16.5 cm)

Constantin Brâncuşi , Bird in Space, marble, 1923

B d i B i' i fBird summarizes Brancusi's purity of form. The idea is coming from a mythological/folk tale, Maiastra, a Romanian magical creature similar toRomanian magical creature similar to the firebird .

After World War I, he shifted away from such mythical references.

Constantin Brâncuşi , Bi d i S 1928Bird in Space, 1928.

Bronze (unique cast), 4' 6" x 8" x 6" high.

Constantin Brâncuşi, Sculptural E bl Tâ Ji R iEnsemble. Târgu Jiu, Romania.

The three sculptures — The Table of Silence, The Kiss Gate and The Endless Column — are disposed on an axis 1275 m long, oriented West-East.

The Kiss Gate

Table of Silence, limestone. (Originally the twelve chairs were much closer to the tablewere much closer to the table and were arranged in pairs)

Sketch made by Brâncuşi on a photo of the location

Constantin Brâncuşi , Endless Column, 1937-8, cast iron, 98’ H (29.9 m.), 17 , , ( ),modules. Targu-Jiu, Romania. (The conservation of the column was completed in 2000.)

It was made as a tribute to the young Romanians who died in World War I, and is a stylization of the funerary pillars used in Southern Romania.

Constantin Brâncuşi , Endless Column, detail

Romanian farm house

f A Th T f B b lWooden Totem from Te Koutu PA,

New Zealand

The Tower of Babel

Father Athanasius Kircher.

UMBERTO BOCCIONI UniqueBOCCIONI, Unique

Forms of Continuity in Space

1913 (cast 1931). Bronze,

Aleksandr Rodchenko, Spatial Construction/Spati 1913 (cast 1931). Bronze,

Pablo Picasso, Mandolin and Clarinet 1913

/ pal Object, 1921.

Clarinet, 1913. Painted wood construction with cardboard paper

NAUM GABO

cardboard, paper, and pencil marks.

ConstantinColumnca. 1923. Perspex, wood, metal, glass

Brâncuşi , Bird in Space, marble,

1923