Mercié of the École des Beaux-Arts, and was invited to enter the workshop of Auguste Rodin.
Even though he admired the eminent Rodin he left the Rodin studio after only two months,
saying, "Nothing can grow under big trees."
After leaving Rodin's workshop, Brâncuși began developing the revolutionary style for which he
is known. His first commissioned work, "The Prayer", was part of a gravestone memorial. It
depicts a young woman crossing herself as she kneels, and marks the first step toward abstracted,
non-literal representation, and shows his drive to depict "not the outer form but the idea, the
essence of things." He also began doing more carving, rather than the method popular with his
contemporaries, that of modeling in clay or plaster which would be cast in metal, and by 1908 he
worked almost exclusively by carving.
In the following few years he made many versions of "Sleeping Muse" and "The Kiss", further
simplifying forms to geometrical and sparse objects.
His works became popular in France, Romania and the United States. Collectors, notably John
Quinn, bought his pieces, and reviewers praised his works. In 1913
Brâncuși's work was
displayed at both the Salon des Indépendantsand the first exhibition in the U.S. of modern art,
the Armory Show.
Brâncuși's Paris studio, 1920, photograph by Edward Steichen
In
1920,
he
developed
a
notorious reputation with the entry of
"Princess X" in the Salon. The phallic
shape of the piece scandalized the Salon,
and despite Brâncuși's explanation that it
was an anonymous portrait, removed it
from the exhibition. "Princess X" was
revealed to be Princess Marie Bonaparte,
direct descendant of the younger brother
of Napoleon
Bonaparte.
Brâncuși
represented or caricatured her life as a
large gleaming bronze phallus. This
phallus
symbolizes
the
model's
obsession with the penis and her lifelong
Magazine Without Borders
Issue n°1
22/45