A comprehensive retrospective catalog on Constantin Brancusi, a central figure of twentieth-century modernist sculpture.

Constantin Brancusi ranks among the preeminent modernist sculptors and has exercised a defining influence over generations of contemporary artists. Having completed his academic training in Romania, he set out at the age of twenty-eight for a tour of Europe before settling in Paris. Organic and stripped down to the bare essentials, his works establish him as a pioneer of sculptural abstraction in the early twentieth century. Brancusi’s pursuit of a creative ideal is manifest in his formal variations on a select number of motifs and his playful exploration of diverse materials and surfaces. He deftly used pedestals, lighting, and dynamic forms, as well as photography and film, to dramatize his sculptures. 

A retrospective at the Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin—produced in cooperation with the Centre Pompidou, Paris—is accompanied by this comprehensive catalog, which sheds light on the manifold facets of Brancusi’s oeuvre. It features major works from international collections as well as views of his studio. Photographs of the artist from his personal collection round out the extensive plate section. With an introduction by Ariane Coulondre, an essay by Nina Schallenberg on Brancusi’s staging of his works, and an essay by Maike Steinkamp on the reception of his art in Europe.