BRANCUSI, Constantin

Apprenticed to a cabinetmaker, Brancusi studied art, first in Bucharest and then in Munich, finally reaching Paris in 1904. Though his initial work reflected first the influence of Auguste Rodin (1840–1917), and he then created faces resembling those in Amadeo Modigliani's (1884–1920) work, Brancusi finally concentrated on abstract sculpture, which he thought captured the essence of things beneath surface characteristics. After 1910, Brancusi made it a point of principle to carve everything himself,...