GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Constantin Brancusi's Sleeping Muse—a detached head lying on its cheek—entered new ground in the representation of a conceptual image. The head is so refined and reduced in its perfect. unblemished shape that only the concept of the original is present. His work from this period set a standard for all succeeding modern sculpture that desired "truth to materials;" the stone's form is closely connected with the form required by the subject itself. Brancusi was one of the most important artists in Paris during the early stages of modern art. His stye was not just a matter of personal temperament, but deeply rooted in traditional art, put to new uses and purposes.
Adapted from
DMA unpublished material.
NOTES
c. 1910
This note was started July 2015 but I did not record the source of this text. likely came from the education files.
(First paragraph of the above unpublished DMA text)
Born in Romania in 1876. After completing his early art training in his home country, he moved to Paris where he was to spend the rest of his career and life. He died there in 1957. For a few months after his arrival in Paris, he worked with the French sculptor, Auguste Rodin. Yet, due to Brancusi's independent nature. he soon parted both company and style with Rodin and helped influence a movement that was beginning to define modern sculpture as more dependent on material considerations and independent of theories of representation. While he stopped short of Picasso's 1907-1908 full blown interest in the primitive, his innovations of the same period were part of the first break from Impressionist sculpture as well as classic naturalism. He began severely eliminating all superficial details and through a series of reductions. finally attained the essential or eternal form the oval that is both concrete and abstract in its representation of the original ovum or beginning and end of the world. He continued toward a greater simplification and concision that was enhanced by highly polished surfaces and more closely conveyed the idea determining the form.
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Place of origin: Paris (France): TGN: 7008038
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WEB RESOURCES
- Museo Nacional Centro De Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid~Check out this photograph by Man Ray that may have been influenced by Brancusi's The Sleeping Muse.
- Boca Raton Museum of Art~View this work by Roy Lichtenstein that may have been influenced by Brancusi's The Sleeping Muse.
- University of Michigan Library~Check out this marble sculpture by Brancusi that depicts a more realistic sleeping head.
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General Description
Constantin Brancusi's Sleeping Muse—a detached head lying on its cheek—entered new ground in the representation of a conceptual image. The head is so refined and reduced in its perfect. unblemished shape that only the concept of the original is present. His work from this period set a standard for all succeeding modern sculpture that desired "truth to materials;" the stone's form is closely connected with the form required by the subject itself. Brancusi was one of the most important artists in Paris during the early stages of modern art. His stye was not just a matter of personal temperament, but deeply rooted in traditional art, put to new uses and purposes.
Adapted from
DMA unpublished material.
Fun Facts
Archival Resources
Web Resources
- Museo Nacional Centro De Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid~Check out this photograph by Man Ray that may have been influenced by Brancusi's The Sleeping Muse.
- Boca Raton Museum of Art~View this work by Roy Lichtenstein that may have been influenced by Brancusi's The Sleeping Muse.
- University of Michigan Library~Check out this marble sculpture by Brancusi that depicts a more realistic sleeping head.
Notes
c. 1910
This note was started July 2015 but I did not record the source of this text. likely came from the education files.
(First paragraph of the above unpublished DMA text)
Born in Romania in 1876. After completing his early art training in his home country, he moved to Paris where he was to spend the rest of his career and life. He died there in 1957. For a few months after his arrival in Paris, he worked with the French sculptor, Auguste Rodin. Yet, due to Brancusi's independent nature. he soon parted both company and style with Rodin and helped influence a movement that was beginning to define modern sculpture as more dependent on material considerations and independent of theories of representation. While he stopped short of Picasso's 1907-1908 full blown interest in the primitive, his innovations of the same period were part of the first break from Impressionist sculpture as well as classic naturalism. He began severely eliminating all superficial details and through a series of reductions. finally attained the essential or eternal form the oval that is both concrete and abstract in its representation of the original ovum or beginning and end of the world. He continued toward a greater simplification and concision that was enhanced by highly polished surfaces and more closely conveyed the idea determining the form.
Checked Piction
Object File Reviewed
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Place of origin: Paris (France): TGN: 7008038
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
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PROVENANCE
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
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