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Bird in Space

Bird in Space is a series of abstract sculptures by Romanian artist Constantin Brâncuși, first produced in 1923, that distill the motion of a bird in flight into sleek, elongated vertical forms tapering at both ends with a gentle central swell, rendered in materials such as polished bronze, brass, or marble without representational wings, feathers, or beak.^[1]^[2]^[3]
Brâncuși created at least fifteen variations on this theme, prioritizing the spiritual essence of ascent over anatomical fidelity, as reflected in his own statements on transcending material constraints.^[4]^[1]
A 1926 bronze version shipped from Paris to New York for exhibition prompted the landmark case Brâncuși v. United States, where U.S. customs appraisers rejected its artistic status—deeming it a mere "metal bird" for higher tariffs—leading to a federal court victory that expanded legal recognition of abstract modernism by affirming the work's sculptural merit based on expert testimony and evolving aesthetic standards.^[5]^[6]
The series exemplifies Brâncuși's pioneering reductionism, influencing subsequent abstract art, with versions acquired by institutions including the Museum of Modern Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and Metropolitan Museum of Art.^[6]^[4]^[2]

Creation and Context

Development of the Series

Constantin Brâncuși's exploration of bird motifs began with earlier sculptures like Maiastra (1911–1912), inspired by a golden bird from Romanian folklore symbolizing the soul's flight, which featured more figurative elements such as wings and a perch.^[7] This theme progressed through intermediate works, including Golden Bird (1919–1920), where forms became increasingly abstracted and polished to evoke motion and elevation.^[8] ^[9] The Bird in Space series marked the culmination of this evolution, with the inaugural marble version completed in 1923, stripping away anatomical details like feathers, wings, and beak to distill the essence of flight into a sleek, ovoid shaft suggesting upward thrust.^[2] ^[10] Brâncuși refined the form through iterative simplification, elongating the body and reducing the head to a minimal plane, prioritizing the sculpture's interaction with light and space over literal representation.^[2] Subsequent versions, produced between 1923 and 1940, numbered around 15 to 16, incorporated bronzes, polished brasses, and plasters, allowing for variations in patina, scale, and base integration to enhance the perception of weightlessness and luminosity.^[1] ^[8] These iterations reflected Brâncuși's ongoing experimentation with materials and finishes, such as mirror-like polishing on brass to amplify reflective qualities and simulate infinite ascent.^[10] ^[11] The series embodied his conviction that true art captures essential truths beyond superficial likeness, achieved through direct carving and polishing techniques honed over years of thematic persistence.^[12]

Materials and Techniques

The Bird in Space series consists of sculptures executed primarily in marble and bronze, with additional versions in plaster. The original 1923 iteration was carved directly from a single block of white marble, emphasizing Brâncuși's preference for subtractive carving over additive modeling techniques employed by contemporaries like Rodin.^[6]^[13] Subsequent marble versions, totaling seven in the series, followed this direct carving method, where Brâncuși refined the elongated, ovoid form through careful chiseling to evoke flight and abstraction without naturalistic details.^[2]^[14] Bronze editions, numbering nine casts, were produced by first creating plaster intermediaries from the marble originals, which served as models for lost-wax or sand casting processes at Parisian foundries.^[10] Brâncuși then performed extensive hand-finishing on the cast bronzes, polishing surfaces to a mirror-like sheen using abrasives and buffs, which eliminated casting imperfections and enhanced the reflective interplay of light on the streamlined contours.^[15] This polishing technique, applied meticulously by the artist himself, transformed the metal's texture from matte to luminous, underscoring the sculpture's essential form through optical effects rather than surface ornamentation.^[4] Some variants, such as the Guggenheim's example, utilized polished brass for a warmer patina, though bronze predominates across the series.^[4] Plaster versions functioned as preparatory studies or multiples, retaining the rawer surface of the casting process before potential bronzing.^[10] These methods reflect Brâncuși's integration of traditional carving with modern casting, prioritizing material purity and finish to convey dynamic essence over literal representation.^[13]

Physical Description

Formal Elements

Bird in Space exemplifies modernist abstraction through its simplified, vertical form, which distills the motion of flight into essential contours without naturalistic details such as wings, feathers, or a defined beak.^[2] The sculpture's elongated shaft, typically cast in polished bronze or carved from marble, features a gently undulating curve that swells subtly at the center before tapering to acute points at both extremities, creating an ovoid cross-section that emphasizes streamlined volume over anatomical fidelity.^[3] ^[8] The formal lines are continuous and fluid, employing smooth, curving profiles that suggest upward propulsion and aerodynamic grace, achieved through Brâncuși's reductionist approach to eliminate extraneous elements in favor of pure, dynamic silhouette.^[2] This vertical orientation dominates the spatial composition, integrating a simple pedestal base—often rectangular or circular—to anchor the form while enhancing its sense of elongation and ascent, as the sculpture rises to heights ranging from approximately 137 to 183 cm depending on the version.^[10] ^[16] Material and surface treatment further define its formal qualities: the highly polished finish of bronze iterations produces a reflective sheen that interacts with light, generating optical effects of movement and immateriality, while marble versions offer a matte, tactile smoothness.^[4] Absent of color variation beyond the inherent patina or stone hue, the work relies on value contrasts from light reflection to convey texture's uniformity and the illusion of velocity, underscoring Brâncuși's pursuit of universal essence through geometric purity.^[1]

Variations Across Versions

Constantin Brâncuși initiated the Bird in Space series with a marble version in 1923, followed by additional iterations in marble, bronze, and plaster over approximately two decades until 1940.^[10] ^[17] The series comprises seven marble sculptures and nine bronze casts, with each bronze version derived from manipulated plaster models originating from the initial marble forms.^[10] Brâncuși emphasized the uniqueness of each piece, stating, "I never make reproductions," underscoring that no two bronzes are identical due to deliberate adjustments in proportions during casting.^[10] Variations manifest in subtle refinements to the elongated, ovoid form, including alterations in height, curvature, and swelling at the center, as Brâncuși iteratively sought an ideal expression of flight and ascent.^[17] ^[10] Material differences include white or black marble for earlier versions and polished bronze or brass for later ones, with surface treatments ranging from highly reflective golden-yellow polishes that enhance the sense of ethereality to integral bases of stone or limestone that influence the overall presentation and height.^[1] ^[17] For instance, the 1923 marble at the Metropolitan Museum of Art measures 56 3/4 inches including base, while a 1931 polished bronze at the Norton Simon Museum reaches 73 inches, and the circa 1941 bronze at the Museum of Modern Art stands 72 inches on a 17 3/8-inch pedestal.^[2] ^[1] ^[10] These modifications reflect Brâncuși's process of proportional recalibration, where altering one dimension necessitated holistic adjustments to maintain the sculpture's dynamic equilibrium and abstract essence.^[10] Bases, often custom-designed by the artist, further differentiate versions by integrating with the form to evoke grounded yet soaring motion, as seen in limestone-mounted polished brass examples from 1932–1940 at institutions like the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.^[4] Such variations not only highlight technical evolution but also Brâncuși's commitment to evolving the motif through successive realizations rather than mere replication.^[17]

Brâncuși v. United States Case

Import Dispute and Initial Appraisal

In October 1926, Constantin Brâncuși shipped a polished bronze version of Bird in Space from Paris to New York for exhibition at the Brummer Gallery, arranged through his friend and patron Edward Steichen, a photographer who had commissioned and purchased the work for $600.^[5] ^[18] Upon arrival at the Port of New York, U.S. Customs Service officials declined to classify the sculpture as an original work of art eligible for duty-free entry under Paragraph 1704 of the Tariff Act of 1922, which exempted "statuary and original artistic work" but required recognizable representational qualities.^[5] ^[19] Instead, they provisionally appraised it as a utilitarian metal object—described in official correspondence as resembling "kitchen utensils and hospital supplies" rather than a bird—subject to a 40% ad valorem duty under Paragraph 181 for "articles in chief value of metal, whether or not partly or wholly manufactured."^[18] ^[20] Steichen protested the classification, asserting the piece's status as abstract fine art, but Customs Appraiser Frederick J. H. Kracke conducted a formal examination and issued a binding decision on February 23, 1927.^[20] Kracke determined that Bird in Space failed to qualify as sculpture because it "is not the representation of a bird" and exhibited no anatomical features or traditional mimetic form, rendering it ineligible for the artistic exemption.^[5] ^[20] He upheld the metalware tariff, assessing duty at $240—precisely 40% of the declared $600 value—prompting Steichen and Brâncuși to file a protest and initiate litigation in the U.S. Customs Court to recover the payment and establish the work's artistic merit.^[21] ^[22] This initial appraisal reflected customs officials' reliance on pre-modernist standards of verisimilitude, prioritizing literal resemblance over conceptual intent in evaluating aesthetic objects.^[23]

Trial Proceedings and Expert Testimonies

The trial proceedings for Brâncuși v. United States commenced on October 21, 1927, before the U.S. Customs Court in New York City, where the importation of the bronze Bird in Space—valued at $575 and purchased by photographer Edward Steichen—was contested after customs officials imposed a 40% ad valorem duty under Paragraph 399 of the Tariff Act of 1922, classifying it as a manufactured metal article rather than an original work of sculpture eligible for duty-free entry under Paragraph 1704.^[24]^[25] The hearings featured depositions and live testimonies from artists, critics, and appraisers, with the government attempting to impeach the plaintiff's witnesses by questioning their expertise and the sculpture's representational qualities, while Brâncuși's side emphasized its status as modern abstract art recognized by contemporary professionals.^[26]^[5] The proceedings adjourned to allow for Brâncuși's testimony from Paris, extending the case until the final ruling on November 19, 1928.^[18] Plaintiff witnesses, including prominent figures in the art world, testified that Bird in Space constituted an original sculpture embodying abstract principles of form and movement rather than literal imitation. Edward Steichen, the sculpture's owner and a noted photographer who later directed MoMA's photography department, affirmed its artistic merit based on Brâncuși's intent and execution.^[5] Jacob Epstein, a British sculptor, compared it to ancient Egyptian hawk figures from circa 3000 B.C., arguing that its streamlined form captured essential avian qualities like flight without naturalistic detail, a valid evolution in sculptural tradition.^[24] Forbes Watson, editor of The Arts magazine, rejected rigid definitional criteria, stating that art could not be reduced to measurements of length, breadth, and thickness.^[24] Frank Crowninshield, editor of Vanity Fair, described the work as evoking "flight, grace, aspiration, vigour, coupled with speed in the spirit of strength, potency, beauty," emphasizing that its artistic value derived from the creator's professional status and peer recognition rather than the title or superficial resemblance to a bird.^[5]^[27] William Henry Fox, curator at the Brooklyn Museum, confirmed that a similar Brâncuși sculpture had been exhibited there as art, underscoring institutional acceptance.^[24]^[5] Brâncuși himself testified to the piece's conceptual origins in observing birds, its hand-crafted process involving 18 months of polishing, and its representation of abstract avian essence.^[25] The government's defense relied on appraisers and two unnamed sculptors who testified that Bird in Space lacked the representational imitation of natural forms—particularly the human figure or recognizable animals—required under tariff law precedents, deeming it a utilitarian metal object akin to a manufactured pipe rather than sculpture.^[25] Assistant Attorney General Marcus W. Hochbotham cross-examined plaintiff's experts, probing whether the form could represent unrelated objects like a fish or tiger, or be produced mechanically, to challenge claims of unique artistic authorship.^[24] The court document noted that while plaintiff's witnesses declared the work a professional sculpture, the defense witnesses "pronounced the importation to be neither a work of art nor sculpture," highlighting a divide between traditional and modernist aesthetic standards.^[25] Judge Frederick K. Waite later evaluated the testimonies as reflecting evolving artistic norms, crediting Brâncuși's recognized status among peers while dismissing overly literal interpretations.^[5]^[18]

Judicial Ruling and Immediate Aftermath

On November 26, 1928, United States District Judge Frederick P. Bryant ruled in Brâncuși v. United States that the imported bronze sculpture Bird in Space qualified as an "original work of sculpture" under Paragraph 1704 of the Tariff Act of 1922, exempting it from the 40% import duty applied to manufactured metal articles resembling household utensils.^[5]^[18] The court rejected the government's argument that the work's abstract form failed to represent a bird realistically, instead emphasizing its aesthetic qualities: "while difficulty might be encountered in associating it with a bird, it is nevertheless pleasing to the eye and has the beauty of design, form, and symmetry of line." Judge Bryant further noted that the sculpture evoked "the essence of flight itself," distinguishing it from mere mechanical production and affirming its status as handmade art intended for exhibition rather than utility.^[26]^[23] This verdict, delivered after a trial spanning late 1927 to 1928 in the Southern District of New York, represented the first U.S. judicial acknowledgment that non-representational abstract sculpture could constitute fine art eligible for duty-free entry, overturning the appraiser's initial classification.^[18]^[23] The decision hinged on testimony from art experts, including sculptors like Edward Steichen and Walter Pach, who argued the work's innovative form captured dynamic movement beyond literal depiction, countering customs officials' claims of its resemblance to industrial hardware such as a radiator spring cap.^[5] In the immediate aftermath, the ruling enabled the duty-free admission of the sculpture for Brâncuși's exhibition at the Brummer Gallery in New York, where it was displayed alongside other works without further legal impediment.^[5] U.S. Customs and Excise promptly adjusted its practices, classifying subsequent Brâncuși imports—including additional Bird in Space versions—as artworks exempt from tariffs, reflecting a policy shift toward recognizing modernist abstraction in valuation appraisals.^[23] The outcome drew limited contemporary press coverage but sparked debate among artists and critics, with proponents hailing it as validation of aesthetic evolution against conservative literalism, while some government appraisers privately contested the subjective criteria, foreshadowing ongoing tensions in art classification.^[18] No appeal was pursued by the government, solidifying the precedent for abstract forms in tariff law.^[26]

Locations and Market Value

Institutional Collections

Brâncuși produced fifteen variations of Bird in Space between 1923 and the early 1940s, primarily in polished bronze, marble, and plaster, with several now held in major museum collections.^[1] The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York owns a 1928 version cast in polished bronze, measuring approximately 58 inches in height.^[6] The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York holds another bronze example, emphasizing the sculpture's streamlined, elliptical form devoid of literal avian features.^[2] The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York includes a polished brass version from the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, standing 59 7/16 inches tall on a base.^[4] The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, California, displays a prominent bronze casting, positioned as a centerpiece in its 20th-century sculpture holdings.^[12] The Seattle Art Museum possesses a 1926 version acquired through photographer Edward Steichen, cast in bronze with a height of about 54 inches.^[28] The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) maintains two holdings, both bronze iterations underscoring Brâncuși's abstraction of flight.^[17] The Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice features a 1932–1940 polished brass example on a limestone base, measuring 151.8 cm in height.^[8] The Art Institute of Chicago exhibits a reflective bronze sculpture evoking the series' minimalist curvature.^[29] The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., includes a version in its modern sculpture collection.^[3]

Auction History and Economic Significance

A bronze cast of Bird in Space achieved $140,000 at Parke-Bernet Galleries in New York on April 20, 1966, from the Helena Rubinstein collection, marking the highest price for a sculpture at auction at that time.^[30] Another version, a previously unrecorded bronze with gold patina executed circa 1922-1923, sold for $27,456,000 (including buyer's premium) at Christie's New York on May 4, 2005, exceeding its high estimate of $12 million and establishing a new auction benchmark for any sculpture.^[31]^[32]^[33] These transactions illustrate the progressive market escalation for Brâncuși's works, with Bird in Space variants commanding premiums due to their scarcity—fewer than 20 authorized casts exist across materials—and iconic status in modernist sculpture.^[31]^[33] The 2005 sale, surpassing prior records set by other Brâncuși pieces, signaled heightened collector appetite for abstract forms post-2000, bolstering the artist's overall market index and influencing pricing for comparable early-20th-century sculptures by contemporaries like Giacometti or Arp.^[32]^[34] Economically, Bird in Space auctions have reinforced Brâncuși's position in the upper echelons of the art market, where realizations for his oeuvre averaged multimillion-dollar figures by the mid-2000s, driven by institutional and private demand for verified provenances and the work's historical linkage to the 1926 U.S. customs valuation precedent.^[31]^[33]

Reception and Critical Analysis

Initial Artistic Responses

The Bird in Space series, commencing with a marble version in 1923, garnered immediate acclaim among Paris-based avant-garde artists for its radical abstraction, which distilled the essence of avian flight into streamlined, ovoid forms devoid of feathers, wings, or anatomical specifics.^[10] Fellow modernists visiting Brâncuși's Impasse Ronsin studio praised the work's luminous polish and proportional harmony as embodying pure dynamism and spiritual elevation, contrasting sharply with representational sculpture traditions.^[35] Photographer Man Ray, a close associate who documented Brâncuși's oeuvre extensively from the early 1920s, expressed profound reverence upon encountering the studio's installations, remarking that the sculptures impressed him "more than in any cathedral," highlighting their transcendent formal purity.^[35] Poet Ezra Pound, after visiting the studio in 1921 and engaging with evolving bird motifs leading to Bird in Space, lauded Brâncuși's approach in essays and correspondence as a revolutionary "system" of form that carved directly from vital emotion, free of ornamental excess, positioning the Romanian sculptor as a pinnacle of modernist innovation.^[35]^[36] Pound's endorsements, published in outlets like The Little Review, influenced transatlantic perceptions, framing the works as intellectual and aesthetic breakthroughs amid the era's fascination with machine-age velocity and abstraction. Other contemporaries, including Dadaists and Surrealists frequenting the studio, echoed this sentiment, viewing Bird in Space as a cosmological emblem that transcended literal depiction to evoke universal motion.^[37] These responses contrasted with broader Parisian conservative circles, where initial private viewings elicited skepticism toward the sculpture's departure from mimetic norms, though avant-garde advocacy solidified its status as a touchstone for non-objective art by the mid-1920s.^[38] Brâncuși's preference for studio presentations over formal salons amplified these intimate, peer-driven appreciations, fostering a cult-like admiration among figures like Fernand Léger, who admired the integration of organic rhythm with industrial gleam.^[39]

Criticisms of Abstraction and Subjectivity

Critics of Bird in Space have argued that its extreme abstraction divorces the work from objective representational standards, rendering it unrecognizable as a depiction of a bird and more akin to industrial design than sculpture. During the 1926–1928 Brâncuși v. United States trial, U.S. Customs appraiser F. J. H. Broot classified the bronze as a "metal article" rather than fine art, noting the absence of anatomical details such as a head, beak, wings, or feathers, which prevented any empirical association with avian form.^[5] Government expert witness Robert W. Aitken, a member of the National Academy of Design, testified that the sculpture was "too abstract" and constituted a "misuse of the form of sculpture," asserting that authentic art must evoke specific emotional responses through discernible structures rather than indeterminate shapes evoking mere "vague impressions" of flight.^[21] ^[40] These contentions highlighted the subjectivity inherent in abstract art's reliance on conceptual essence over mimetic accuracy, where interpretation hinges on the artist's intent or viewer's projection rather than verifiable likeness to the subject. Traditionalist perspectives, echoed in trial proceedings, contended that such non-figurative approaches undermine sculpture's historical emphasis on craftsmanship and naturalistic proportion, as exemplified in classical works from antiquity through the Renaissance, potentially equating polished metal forms with utilitarian objects like propeller shafts or household implements.^[18] The government's opposition reflected broader skepticism toward the "new school" of modernism, which prioritizes abstract ideas detached from natural observation, fostering evaluations based on elite artistic circles rather than public or empirical consensus.^[26] The trial verdict, while affirming the work's artistic status, amplified these criticisms by legally endorsing subjective criteria, with Judge Henry Waite conceding the form's beauty and symmetry but acknowledging "difficulty might be encountered in associating it with a bird," thus shifting art's definition from objective replication to contextual appreciation.^[18] This precedent has been faulted for eroding fixed standards, enabling valuations driven by institutional promotion and market dynamics rather than intrinsic qualities like anatomical fidelity or technical virtuosity in rendering observable reality.^[41]

Legacy and Broader Impact

Influence on Modern Sculpture

Bird in Space, created in 1923 as the first in Brâncuși's series of abstracted bird forms, exemplified his rejection of naturalistic representation in favor of essentialized, streamlined shapes that captured the dynamism of flight through pure volume and curve.^[2] This approach marked a pivotal shift in sculpture toward non-objective abstraction, influencing subsequent generations by prioritizing formal purity over literal depiction.^[35] Brâncuși's polished bronze and marble executions, which emphasized material luminosity and spatial tension, encouraged sculptors to explore sculpture as an experiential object rather than a mimetic one.^[11] The work's legacy is evident in the practices of mid-20th-century sculptors who adopted Brâncuși's techniques of direct carving and organic abstraction. Isamu Noguchi, who apprenticed in Brâncuși's Paris studio from 1927 to 1929, integrated the master's biomorphic forms and base-sculpture unity into his own oeuvre, as seen in pieces like Kouros (1945), which echo the elongated, thrusting silhouette of Bird in Space.^[42] Similarly, British sculptors Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore drew from Brâncuși's simplification of mass and void, evident in Hepworth's Single Form (1963) for the United Nations and Moore's reclining figures, where abstracted contours evoke essential human or avian gestures without anatomical fidelity.^[43] These artists credited Brâncuși's innovations—forged through iterative refinement of the bird motif from representational Maiastra figures (1910–1918) to the near-geometric Bird in Space—for liberating sculpture from Rodin-era modeling and surface detail.^[4] Bird in Space also prefigured minimalist sculpture by reducing form to elemental geometry, influencing postwar artists like David Smith and Anthony Caro in their pursuit of industrial materials and planar abstraction.^[44] Its courtroom validation in 1928 as art rather than utility further normalized abstract sculpture's institutional acceptance, enabling the genre's expansion into public and conceptual realms.^[5] Overall, the sculpture's emphasis on perceptual immediacy and material essence reshaped modern sculpture's discourse, shifting focus from narrative content to the object's intrinsic spatial and tactile qualities.^[42]

Implications for Art Definition and Policy

The ruling in Brâncuși v. United States (1928) established a legal precedent that expanded the definition of sculpture beyond strict representational likeness, allowing abstract works to qualify as art for tariff purposes under Paragraph 1704 of the Tariff Act of 1922.^[5] The U.S. Customs Court determined that "Bird in Space," despite lacking literal bird features like wings or feathers, constituted an original work of art due to its production by a recognized sculptor, its aesthetic qualities of beauty and symmetry, and its evocation of a bird's flight through form rather than mimicry.^[45] This shifted judicial criteria from requiring "likeness of natural models" in precise proportions to evaluating intent, craftsmanship, and expressive purpose, thereby accommodating modernist abstraction in federal classification.^[23] In terms of policy, the decision overturned the 40% ad valorem duty imposed on imported metal manufactures, granting duty-free entry to qualifying abstract sculptures and facilitating the importation of European modernist works into the U.S. during the interwar period.^[19] Prior to 1928, customs appraisers often applied utilitarian tariffs to non-realistic objects, as seen in the initial classification of "Bird in Space" as akin to kitchenware or hardware.^[46] The precedent influenced subsequent customs practices, reducing barriers to modern art acquisition by museums and collectors, though it did not amend the Tariff Act itself; instead, it compelled appraisers to consider expert artistic testimony over superficial morphology.^[5] Longer-term, the case informed broader art policy debates on subjective valuation, serving as a benchmark in disputes over tax exemptions, deductions for charitable art donations, and institutional acquisitions where abstract forms risked reclassification as non-art.^[23] Critics, including some legal scholars, argued it introduced excessive subjectivity into tariff exemptions, potentially favoring elite tastes over objective utility and straining revenue collection from ambiguous imports.^[41] Nonetheless, by validating abstraction's legal status, the ruling contributed to the mainstream integration of non-representational art in American policy frameworks, echoing in later International Trade Commission guidelines on cultural goods.^[45] This precedent persists in modern customs law, where artistic merit is assessed via provenance and professional consensus rather than anatomical fidelity.^[19]

References

[1]
Bird in Space - Norton Simon Museum
Artist Name: Constantin Brancusi (Romanian, 1876-1957) · Title: Bird in Space · Date: 1931 · Culture: Romanian · Medium: Polished bronze · Dimensions: 73 in. (185.4 ...
[2]
Constantin Brancusi - Bird in Space - The Metropolitan Museum of Art
In Bird in Space, the sculptor eliminated wings and feathers, elongated the swell of the body, and reduced the head and beak to a slanted oval plane.
[3]
Bird in Space by Constantin Brâncuși - National Gallery of Art
This abstract sculpture is made up of a vertical, elongated form cast in gleaming brass that swells gently at the center and tapers to a point at either end.
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Constantin Brancusi | Bird in Space - Guggenheim Museum
Constantin Brancusi, Bird in Space, 1932–40. Polished brass, 59 7/16 inches (151 cm) high, including base.
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Jul 24, 2014 · In 1926, Brancusi created a sculpture of Bird in Space (now in the collection of the Seattle Art Museum) and sent it from Paris to New York City ...
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Constantin Brâncuși. Bird in Space. 1928 - MoMA
Tall, slender metallic sculpture with a smooth, reflective surface, predominantly gold in color. Constantin Brâncuși Bird in Space 1928.
[7]
Oiseau dans l'espace (Bird in Space), 1926-27 - Kettle's Yard
Oiseau dans l'espace belongs in a group of works exploring the theme of birds and flight, which had its beginnings around 1911 with Maiastra.
[8]
Bird in Space | Work of art - Peggy Guggenheim Collection
Artist, Constantin Brancusi ; Original Title, L'Oiseau dans l'espace ; Date, 1932–40 ; Medium, Polished brass on limestone base ; Dimensions, Overall: 151.8 x 12.2 ...
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Golden Bird | The Art Institute of Chicago
Trained in both folk and academic traditions, Constantin Brancusi sought his own path for sculpture around 1907. Breaking with the currents of the time, ...
[10]
Constantin Brâncuși. Bird in Space. c. 1941 - MoMA
The first Bird in Space was made from marble; bronze and plaster versions followed in the years and decades to come.
[11]
Brancusi and America - Art News
May 1, 2019 · One of Brancusi's major formal innovations was sculptural luminosity—the play of light on works like the two versions of Bird in Space (1928 and ...<|separator|>
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Brancusi's “Bird in Space” Soars Again - Norton Simon Museum
Sep 28, 2020 · The maharaja asked Brancusi to design a Temple of Love to honor his deceased first wife, and he purchased three Bird in Space sculptures to be ...
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[PDF] Constantin Brancusi Sculpture - MoMA
Jun 22, 2018 · While Rodin and his peers were making sculpture by modeling clay and casting it in bronze, Brancusi carved his work directly from sandstone, ...
[14]
Bird in Space by Constantin Brâncuși - National Gallery of Art
This abstract sculpture is made up of a vertical, elongated form carved from white marble that swells gently at the center and tapers to a point at either end.
[15]
[PDF] S C U LP T U R E BRANC USI CO N STAN TIN - MoMA
The works on view demonstrate Brancusi's approach to materials such as bronze, stone, and wood and show his repertoire of subject matter, which consisted ...
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Constantin Brâncuși - Works by the Famous Romanian Sculptor
Aug 2, 2023 · Bird in Space (1928). Date Completed, 1928. Medium, Bronze. Dimensions (cm), 137 x 22 x 16. Location, The Museum of Modern Art, New York City ...
[17]
From the Collection: Bird in Space - LACMA Unframed
Apr 20, 2015 · Brancusi made Bird in Space in the span of 20 years, in both marble and bronze, and each iteration of Bird in Space offered a revision of the ...
[18]
Brancusi v. United States: Modern Art on Trial - France-Amérique
Nov 20, 2023 · Brancusi's friend protested that it was a work entitled Bird in Space, but U.S. Customs responded that “this object does not resemble a ...
[19]
Brancusi v. United States, 54 Treas. Dec. 428 (1928) - Quimbee
The Tariff Act of 1922 provided that manufactured metal objects that were imported into the United States were subject to a 40 percent ad valorem duty.
[20]
The Brouhaha [Brancusi v. United States]
Oct 21, 2019 · On February 23, 1927, appraiser Frederick J.H. Kracke handed down his decision: Brâncuși's works were not sculpture. Instead, they were ...Missing: appraisal | Show results with:appraisal
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Bird in Flight, Brancusi, & US Customs law - GranneBlog
Jun 1, 2006 · They imposed the standard tariff for manufactured objects of metal: 40 percent of the sale price, or $240 (about $2,400 in today's dollars). …Missing: appraisal value
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Reenactment of the Brancusi Trial of 1927-28 - History of Art
Apr 18, 2023 · At stake was a bill for $240 (40% of the sale price) from the U.S. Customs office to the owner, photographer and friend of Brancusi, Edward ...
[23]
Constantin Brâncuși's Bird in Space: Legal Case | DailyArt Magazine
Jul 2, 2025 · A version of Bird in Space was sent for an exhibition in New York but when it reached the border, the Customs officials imposed a 40% tariff on ...
[24]
Painters, Sculptors and Others Testify as to Merits of Brancusi's Work ...
His sculpture Bird in Space detained by N Y customs officials, who levy duty on it as article of metal; testimony as to artistic merits.Missing: proceedings 1928
[25]
[PDF] 1 of 1 DOCUMENT C. BRANCUSI v. UNITED STATES T. D. 43063 ...
On the part of the plaintiff the testimony of the sculptor was taken and of one other who claimed to be and probably was a professional artist. Other witnesses ...
[26]
Modernism on Trial: C. Brancusi v. United States (1928) - jstor
The fundamental line of attack was to try to impeach the witnesses for Brancusi, and to prove that the weight of expert testimony was on the government's side, ...
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Dec 3, 2018 · A key argument to this case came from the testimony of the art critic Frank Crowninshield, who was asked to explain to the court, what in the ...Missing: details | Show results with:details
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Bird in Space - Seattle Art Museum Collection
Guggenheim Museum, Brancusi: A Retrospective Exhibition, Oct. 25, 1955 ... 159 Shawes, Eric, Constantin Brancusi, New York, 1989, pp. 37-38 Chave, Anna ...<|separator|>
[29]
Constantin Brancusi | The Art Institute of Chicago
A minimalist, elongated sculpture made of reflective and shiny bronze. The sculpture is long and slightly curved, suggesting the shape of a bird.
[30]
BRANCUSI'S 'BIRD' SOARS TO RECORD - The New York Times
Works from H Rubinstein collection sell for $1445220, Parke-Bernet Galleries; Brancusi Bird in Space brings $140000, auction record for sculpture.
[31]
Constantin Brancusi (1867-1957) , Oiseau dans l'espace | Christie's
Free deliveryPrice realised USD 27,456,000 ; Estimate. USD 8,000,000 – USD 12,000,000 ; Closed · 4 May 2005 ; Details. Constantin Brancusi (1867-1957) Oiseau dans l'espace
[32]
$$27 Million for Brancusi's 'Bird' - Los Angeles Times
May 5, 2005 · Constantin Brancusi's "Bird in Space" shattered the record for a sculpture at auction Wednesday when it brought a bid of $27450000 at ...
[33]
Brancusi's 'Bird in Space' Sets World Auction Record for Sculpture at ...
May 10, 2005 · A previously unrecorded sculpture by Constantin Brancusi and one of his most celebrated compositions, “Bird in Space,” soared to $27,456,000 ...<|separator|>
[34]
At Christie's $289 M. Impressionist-Modern Sale, $57.4 M. Brancusi ...
May 15, 2017 · That price absolutely demolished the artist's auction record, which was achieved when Bird in Space (1923) sold at Christie's in 2005 for $27.5 ...Missing: history | Show results with:history
[35]
How Constantin Brâncuși shaped the course of sculpture in the 20th ...
Mar 22, 2024 · ... Bird in Space was a duty-free work of art or a taxable utensil. Brâncuși and his avant-garde supporters eventually won the case in 1928 ...
[36]
(PDF) Ezra Pound and Constantin Brancusi: sculptural form and the ...
Notably, references to Brancusi's 'Bird in Space' demonstrate how Pound's work grapples with the tension between form and the fragmentation inherent in ...
[37]
Brancusi, Rosso, Man Ray – Framing sculpture - Frieze
'Brancusi, Rosso, Man Ray – Framing Sculpture' looked at these three artists' individual approaches to reproducibility.
[38]
Source of Confusion: The Contentious Promotion of Constantin ...
12 Both artists claimed that Bird in Space was not art because it did not produce any aesthetic emotion. It did not conform to their traditional ideas of beauty ...<|separator|>
[39]
Western sculpture - Avant-Garde, 1909-20 | Britannica
His bronze Bird in Space became a cause célèbre in the 1920s when U.S. customs refused to admit it duty free as a work of art. Raymond Duchamp-Villon began ...Missing: responses | Show results with:responses
[40]
[PDF] AN ODD BIRD BUSTING CHOPS THE DEMON OF ANDERSONVILLE
Sep 17, 2004 · " Robert Aitken, the government's other witness, said that art should "arouse an unusual emotional reaction" and "[stir] the esthetics, the ...
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How Putting Brâncuși's "Bird in Space" on Trial Changed Our ...
Jul 1, 2025 · As it turns out, the Bird in Space sculpture at the MOMA is actually only one of a series of sculptures by Brâncuși—all of which are titled Bird ...
[42]
Constantin Brâncuși Sculptures, Bio, Ideas - The Art Story
Jul 1, 2009 · His use of biomorphic forms and integration of his sculptures with their bases influenced the work of such artists as Isamu Noguchi, another ...
[43]
Constantin Brâncuși Finally Gets His Diacritics at the National ...
Sep 27, 2025 · Brâncuși's work has inspired a host of modern sculptors, from Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, and Isamu Noguchi (who worked as Brâncuși's ...
[44]
How Constantin Brancusi Brazenly Redefined Sculpture - Artsy
Jul 20, 2018 · Works like Bird in Space (1923) and Princess X (1916) hardly look like any bird or princess that you've ever seen. But, according to Brancusi ...
[45]
The case of Constantin Brancusi vs the United States of America
The trial of 1927-28 was a perfect opportunity to debate before a court the essential questions concerning the criteria for determining what was a work of art.Missing: proceedings expert testimonies
[46]
Art's Legal Definition: Brancusi v. United States
Mar 5, 2024 · At issue was whether modern art, such as Bird in Space, qualified as genuine artwork under the law. The trial included testimony from Brancusi ...