Research for project #1

Constantin Brâncusi

Suffering, 1907
Bronze11 1/2 x 11 3/8 x 8 3/4 in. (29.2 x 28.8 x 22.3 cm)

Constantin Brancusi (February 19, 1876 – March 16,1957]), was a Romanian sculptor, born in Hobiţa,Gorj, near Târgu Jiu, where he placed his sculpturalensemble with The Table of Silence, The Gate of theKiss and The Endless Column. Brancusi studied art at the School of arts and crafts in Craiova from 1894 to 1898 and at the National schoolof fine arts in Bucharest from 1898 to 1901. Wishingto further his education in Paris, he arrived there in1904 and enrolled in the École des Beaux-Arts in1905. As an art student he was influenced by AugusteRodin, but his style moved beyond naturalist representation to stylized elegant forms. Brancusi was one of the first sculptors to experiment with abstract art (although never, in his own view, moving into pure abstraction). His sculptures becameprogressively smoother and less figurative, until onlythe barest outline of the original subject was left,venturing even further away from figurative sculpturethan his countryman and contemporary DimitriePaciurea.
Constantin Brancusi lived and worked from 1925 to 1957 in his workshop, located in the impasse Ronsin, in the15ème arrondissement of Paris. The original workshop has disappeared and has been rebuilt near the CentreGeorges Pompidou. Located in the Montparnasse Cemeteryare statues carved by Brancusi for afew fellow artists who committedsuicide, the best-known of which is hiswork, The Kiss. Brancusi died on March 16, 1957 and was buried in the Montparnasse Cemetery, Paris, France.