Constantin Brancusi PDF
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Constantin Brancusi SandaMiller Constantin Brancusi TitlesintheseriesCriticalLivespresenttheworkofleadingculturalfigures ofthemodernperiod.Eachbookexploresthelifeoftheartist,writer, philosopherorarchitectinquestionandrelatesittotheirmajorworks. Inthesameseries JeanGenet OctavioPaz StephenBarber NickCaistor MichelFoucault WalterBenjamin DavidMacey EstherLeslie PabloPicasso CharlesBaudelaire MaryAnnCaws RosemaryLloyd FranzKafka JeanCocteau SanderL.Gilman JamesS.Williams GuyDebord SergeiEisenstein AndyMerrifield MikeO’Mahony MarcelDuchamp SalvadorDalí CarolineCros MaryAnnCaws JamesJoyce EdgarAllanPoe AndrewGibson KevinJ.Hayes FrankLloydWright GertrudeStein RobertMcCarter LucyDaniel Jean-PaulSartre SamuelBeckett AndrewLeak AndrewGibson NoamChomsky PabloNeruda WolfgangB.Sperlich DominicMoran JorgeLuisBorges WilliamS.Burroughs JasonWilson PhilBaker ErikSatie StéphaneMallarmé MaryE.Davis RogerPearson GeorgesBataille VladimirNabokov StuartKendall BarbaraWyllie LudwigWittgenstein EdwardKanterian Constantin Brancusi Sanda Miller reaktion books ToGiulia PublishedbyReaktionBooksLtd 33GreatSuttonStreet Londonec1v0dx,uk www.reaktionbooks.co.uk Firstpublished2010 Copyright©SandaMiller2010 Allrightsreserved Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedinaretrievalsystem, ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical, photocopying,recordingorotherwise,withoutthepriorpermission ofthepublishers. PublicationofthisbookissupportedbySouthamptonSolentUniversity ArtandDesignCapabilityFund. PrintedandboundinGreatBritain byCromwellPressGroup,Trowbridge,Wiltshire BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData Miller,Sanda ConstantinBrancusi.—(Criticallives) 1.Brancusi,Constantin,1876-1957.2.Sculptors, Romania—Biography. I.TitleII.Series 730.9’2-dc22 isbn9781861896520 Contents Introduction 7 1 Childhood 12 2 CraiovaandApprenticeship 21 3 BucharestandtheAcademyofFineArts 30 4 Paris 40 5 TheStudiosatimpasseRonsin 76 6 WorkandFriends 102 7 Tîrgu-Jiu 126 8 LastWorks,LastFriends,Legacy 141 References 151 SelectBibliography 167 Acknowledgements 171 PhotoAcknowledgements 173 No digital rights Brancusiinhisstudio,c.1915. Introduction AlthoughConstantinBrancusiisacknowledgedasamajorartistof thetwentiethcentury,hecontinuestobeoneofitsmostelusive. Tworeasonsforthisspringtomind.Thefirstistodowithhispersonal history.BrancusiwasbornandgrewupinRomaniaduringthelast quarterofthenineteenthcentury,anddespitetheWest’smodernizing influences,Romaniawasthenanimpoverished,largelyruralland,one regardedbyoutsidersasagrimBalkanbackwaterhauntedbyvampires andwerewolves.Thesecond,andtomymindmoreinteresting,reason isthatBrancusihimself,oncehewassettledinParis,capitalizedon thewidespreadignoranceandprejudicesconcerningRomaniaand itsinhabitants.Quicktorealizethatfictionismoreappealingtothe popularimaginationthanarefacts,hewovearoundhimselfaveritable auraof‘otherness’inhiscelebratedwhiteatelierorstudiointheheart ofMontparnasse.Sosuccessfulwasheinthisthatweevenhave anovelisticbiographyofBrancusibyPeterNeagoeentitledTheSaint ofMontparnasse,publishedfiveyearsaftertheauthor’sdeathin1960, andwhichwaswritteninordertoenshrinethemythforever.1 Documentaryevidence,however,hascontinuedtoemerge, someasrecentlyas2003,2whichcontradictssuchone-dimensional hagiographies,andamorecomplexpictureisemerging,onethat revealsBrancusiasamanofhistimewhorespondedtothechallenge ofoneofthemostturbulentperiodsinEuropeanhistory,dominated bytwoworldwarsandaholocaust,bycreatingworksofhaunting andunforgettablebeauty. 7 Brancusi’soeuvreisdisplayedintheforemostmuseumsofEurope andtheusaandsomeofhissculptures,suchasthefamousMlle Pogany,haveachievediconicstatus.Lesswellknownishisrecon- structedstudiocomplexinParis,partoftheBeaubourgdistrict’s CentrePompidou.AveritableGesamtkunstwerkthatencapsulates Brancusi’slifeandwork,the‘AtelierBrancusi’ishismostenduring legacy.InhislifetimeinMontparnasseitwasthestageonwhichhis carefullyconstrued‘otherness’wasplayedouttoacaptiveaudience. Thisaudiencecomprisedthedealers,collectors,friends,lovers,writers, criticsandtheoddsycophantichanger-onthatBrancusihadgathered aroundhim.Somewhovisitedhaveleftprecioustestimonies,asthe followingexamplereveals.Duringthe1950stheplaywrightEugène IonescowasinvitedtovisitBrancusi.Although‘lepittoresquedasa personne’–asIonescosarcasticallyputit–didnotappealtohim,one coldwintereveninghedidaccepttheinvitation.Ashewaswaiting bythestoveinthecompanyofthepainterAlexandreIstrati,thedoor openedandinsteppedBrancusi,‘alittleoldmanabout80yearsold, cudgelinhand,wearingatallwhitefurrybonnetonhishead;a patriarch’swhitebeard’and‘lesyeuxpétillantsdemalice’.Although informedofhisvisitor’sidentity,Brancusifeignedignoranceby askingIonesco‘whatwashismétier’.IstratiexplainedthatIonescu ‘isaplaywright,writesforthestage’.Brancusireplied‘Me,Idetest thetheatre,Ihavenoneedoftheatre.J’emmerdelethéâtre.’Butin Ionescohefoundhisequal,forIonescoquicklyretortedthat‘Itoo detestandJ’emmerdeit.ThatisthereasonIwriteplaystomockit. Itisthesolereason.’Brancusi,whowasfamedforprovokinghis interlocutorsbyplayingdevil’sadvocate,thenbeganarambling perorationaboutHitlerbeingamisunderstoodhero,aboutAryanism, theninturnhishatredofNazism,hishatredofdemocracy,of bolshevism,ofanti-communism,ofscience,ofmodernism,ofanti- modernismandsoon....ButIonescokeptvery,veryquiet.Defeated, Brancusilefttheroom,onlytoreappearmomentslatercarryinga bottleofchampagne.3 8
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