Brancusi at the Centre Pompidou: the exhibition about the father of contemporary sculpture, our photos

He left his mark on art history with his original and fascinating sculptures. From March 27 to July 1, 2024, the Centre Pompidou is dedicating a rich and beautiful exhibition to the artist Constantin Brancusi. It's an opportunity to (re)discover the diversity of his work, with his sculptures of course, but also his photographs, drawings and films.

Constantin Brancusi (1876-1957) is one of the great names incontemporary art, and more particularly in sculpture. He is considered a precursor, a true master in his field. So it's hardly surprising that the Centre Pompidou is organizing a retrospective exhibition in his honor, from March 27 to July 1, 2024. The first of its kind since 1995.

Entitled"Brancusi, l'art ne fait que que commencer" (Brancusi, art is just beginning), the exhibition brings together almost 400 works in all, including over 120 sculptures, as well as photographs, drawings, films and archival documents. Visitors can admire the entire career of this influential and innovative artist, from his beginnings and arrival in Paris in 1904 at the age of 28, to his great successes and most controversial works, including the famous"Princesse X", which caused a scandal at the Salon des Indépendants in 1920.

After various training courses in Europe and Paris, the sculptor finally found his style, his identity, which would make him unique, admired as well as criticized. A radical approach to his work, with curves, pure lines, simple, minimalist forms andabstract subjects: Brancusi became the benchmark for abstract sculpture, laying the foundations for surrealist, minimalist art. In perfecting his art, the creator sought to detach himself from matter, to give life to pure symbols.

The exhibition at the Centre Pompidou retraces this long artistic journey, highlighting the creative process of the Romanian-born artist through a rich and beautiful scenography. The retrospective tour includes a visit to thesculptor's studio, partially reconstructed for the purposes of the exhibition. A place where Brancusi lived, created and presented his work, this studio - located in impasse Ronsin in Paris's 15th arrondissement - was conceived as a work in itself. On the artist's death, it was bequeathed to the French state. Forming the matrix of the exhibition, this workshop gives us a better understanding of the sculptor's creative process.

A rich and diversified creative process, as evidenced by the many works on display in level 6 of the Centre Pompidou. There are, of course, some of Constantin Brancusi 's legendary sculptures, such as"The Sleeping Muse" (1910), certainly the artist's best-known work. A little further on, we discover three other major works created in 1907 and 1908: " Le Baiser" (The Kiss ), " La Sagesse de la Terre" (The Wisdom of the Earth ) and " La Prière" (The Prayer ). For these, Brancusi favored direct carving.

We continue our visit by passing through the wooden farmhouse door, and discover another facet of the artist, that of his woodworking, again with a radical gesture. We then move on to the famous portraits and the relationship to flight that occupied Brancusi for three decades, with the theme of the"Maïastra", the legendary bird from folk tales.

Another room, another theme, this time that of the animal, which marks an evolution towards oblique and horizontal forms. Sculptures of roosters rub shoulders with those of seals, crocodiles and turtles.

Not to be forgotten is the dark room where we are invited to sit and contemplate the work"Léda" (1926). Made of bronze, this sculpture stands on a ball bearing, topped by a small motor that allows the work to turn slowly in perpetual motion.

The Brancusi exhibition closes with some of the artist's monumental works, including his famous"Endless Column", which was installed in the garden of his friend Edward Steichen in Voulangis.