Early 20 th Century Sculpture

Early 20 th Century Sculpture

Ernst Barlach (1870-1938) German sculptor, graphic artist, t and writer. He sculpted several war memorials for the Weimar Republic. Barlach wrote Expressionist plays that he Barlach wrote Expressionist plays that he illustrated with woodcuts and lithographs.

The floating human form, suspended above a tomb inscribed with the dates 1914-18 and the later added 1939-1945, suggests a dying soul. The Nazis melted it down for ammunition but luckily a friend of Barlach hid another version of this sculpture. Ernst Barlach, War Monument, from Güstrow Cathedral, Güstrow, Germany, 1927, Bronze

Ernst Barlach, War Monument, from Güstrow Cathedral, Güstrow, Germany, 1927, Bronze Emil Nolde, The Prophet, woodcut, 1912

Constantin Brâncuşi (1876-1957) A Romanian sculptor who settled in France. Photographs,1933-34 He was one of the most influential 20th-century sculptors, but he left a relatively small body of work centred on 215 sculptures, of which about 50 are thought to have been lost or destroyed. d

Constantin Brancusi'ss studio, as reconstructed 1977-1990 at the Musée National d'art Moderne, Centre 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 art.

Constantin Brâncuşi, Sleep. Marble, 1908 Constantin Brancusi, Sleeping Muse, bronze, marble 1909-1910

Constantin Brâncuşi - The Kiss, 1912 The embracing couple are schematic figures, acting as a sign of ideal union.

Constantine Brancusi. Kiss. 1912. Stone. Philadelphia Museum of Art Auguste Rodin. The Kiss, 1886-1898. 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 wood construction with cardboard, paper, and pencil marks. 58x36x23 cm. Constantin Brâncuşi - The Kiss, Stone. 1912 Constantin Brancusi, Sleeping Muse, bronze, marble 1909-1910

Constantin Brâncuşi ş, Maiastra,, 1910-12, Polished brass, H. 28 ¾ (73.1 cm). The word maïastra means master or chief in Brancusi s native Romanian, but the title refers specifically to a magically beneficent, dazzlingly yplumed bird in Romanian folklore.

Constantin Brancusi, Bird in Space, 1925 White marble on a base of wood and limestone, 5' 11 5/8". National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, Constantin Brancusi, Bird in Space, 1923 White Marble; H. (with base) 56 3/4 in. (144.11 cm), Diam. 6 1/2 in. (16.5 cm)

Constantin Brâncuşi, Bird in Space, marble, 1923 Bird summarizes Brancusi's purity of form. The idea is coming from a mythological/folk tale, Maiastra, a Romanian magical creature similar to the firebird. After World War I, he shifted away from such mythical references. Constantin Brâncuşi, Bird in Space, 1928. Bronze (unique cast), 4' 6" x 8" x 6" high.

Constantin Brâncuşi, Sculptural Ensemble. 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 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

Wooden Totem from Te Koutu PA, New Zealand The Tower of Babel Father Athanasius Kircher.

Aleksandr Rodchenko, Spatial Construction/Spati al Object, 1921. Pablo Picasso, Mandolin and Clarinet, 1913. Painted wood construction with cardboard, paper, and pencil marks. UMBERTO BOCCIONI, Unique Forms of Continuity in Space 1913 (cast 1931). Bronze, NAUM GABO Column ca. 1923. Perspex, wood, metal, glass Constantin Brâncuşi, Bird in Space, marble, 1923