 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Danaïde has the formal purity, radical simplicity and physical radiance for which Brancusi is famed.
By Anika Guntrum
|
|
|
|
|
Sale 1075, Lot 27
Constantine Brancusi
Danaïde (detail)
Bronze with black patina and gold leaf
Conceived circa 1913; cast shortly thereafter
Estimate: $8,000,000-10,000,000
|
|
Brancusi was perhaps the most influential sculptor of the 20th century. Danaïde, one of his most delicate works, represents a central theme of his early sculpture: portraiture. Its formal purity, radical simplicity and physical radiance embody the most important characteristics of his art. Like the celebrated Mademoiselle Pogany series, Danaïde is at the centre of Brancusi's achievement as a sculptor.
Danaïde is clearly another portrait of Margit Pogany, however differently conceived. Brancusi first experimented with the Danaïde subject in 1907-09, carving a stone version. Its forms were still very life-like and as he had not yet met Pogany, no likeness is present. He encountered Pogany, a Hungarian art student, in Paris in 1910, and returned to the theme, carving a marble version.
Comparison with the photograph of Pogany reveals how at this stage Brancusi was concerned to create a pared-down image of his model, concentrating on her large eyes and smooth, austere coiffure, creating a twisting composition. He defined the simplicity of his essential form by stating, 'Simplicity is complexity resolved.' As with the finest ancient Egyptian sculpture, Brancusi preserved the sitter's essence while effectively eliminating personal detail.
|
|
|
Visual references to Cycladic and archaic Greek sculpture are found throughout Brancusi's oeuvre. His titles supply verbal clues to his ancient sources: Prométhée, Léda, Caryatide, Une muse, La chimère, Socrate and Le narcisse, among others. In Greek mythology the Danaïdes were the 50 daughters of King Danaos of Argos, who was in conflict with his brother Aegyptos, father of 50 sons. The sons proposed to marry the daughters but Danaos ordered the brides to murder their grooms on their wedding night. All but one complied. However, all the documentation regarding Brancusi's relationship with Pogany supports a friendly relationship, and not that of the destructive woman.
Margit Rowell writes in the exhbition catalogue of Constantin Brancusi, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1995, that on viewing this exact cast of Danaïde at Steiglitz's Photo-Secession Gallery Brancusi exhibition in 1914, 'the critic Henry McBride likened it to a "Japanese noblewoman" in its enigmatic expressiveness... In fact, the first two casts were actually gilded, and the hair patinated black, a combination of finishes found in East Asian sculptures of the Buddha, which Brancusi probably saw at the Musée Guimet. In simplicity of form and refinement of finish, as well as in such highly stylized details as the delicate curves of the eyelids and the lock of hair on the left side of the neck, the piece recalls the precious, classicizing, Japanese-influenced objects of the 1920s Art Deco style. But the early date of Danaïde shows that Brancusi was in fact a precursor.'
ANIKA GUNTRUM IS A SPECIALIST IN THE IMPRESSIONIST AND MODERN ART DEPARTMENT, CHRISTIE'S NEW YORK
Back to top
|
|
|
