In the evolution of modern sculpture few artists were as pivotal as Constantin Brancusi, who pioneered a shift from the traditional modeling of figures to the creation of objects that are “things in themselves.” This volume of the MoMA Artist Series features ten sculptures by Brancusi from The Museum of Modern Art’s collection of his work, opening with Maiastra (1910–12), the first appearance of Brancusi’s bird motif, and concluding with Bird in Space (c. 1941), one of the last. With other examples of the artist’s recurring subjects—fish, columns, ovoid heads, crowing roosters—they illustrate his enduring engagement with form, material, and representation.
