Constantin Brancusi, Jeune Fille sophistiquée (Portrait de Nancy Cunard) (1928–1932). Polished bronze. 54.9 x 14.9 x 21.9 cm. Cast by Susse Fondeur, Paris, France in 2013. © Succession Brancusi, all rights reserved/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris. Courtesy Kasmin Gallery, New York.
Kasmin Gallery are showing this sublime sculpture by Brancusi for Art021 Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair.
The 1932 unique cast of this work fetched USD $71 million at Christie’s in 2018 and, although this is a posthumous cast, one cannot deny the sheer beauty of this object.
Brancusi’s iconic polished bronze lends itself so well to more recent casting, and invites intriguing questions around authorship.
This sculpture feels contemporary, in part due to Brancusi’s aesthetic influence on modern sculpture that has trickled down over the years, but also through his ability to convey modernity as an expressive form of universality.
Brancusi eschews physical characterisation for more abstract forms, but a subtle suggestion of curves, swirls, and verticality leaves us with this powerful sensation of a sophisticated woman.
Main image: Constantin Brancusi, Jeune Fille sophistiquée (Portrait de Nancy Cunard) (1928–1932). Polished bronze. 54.9 x 14.9 x 21.9 cm. Cast by Susse Fondeur, Paris, France in 2013. © Succession Brancusi, all rights reserved/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris. Courtesy Kasmin Gallery, New York.
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