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A sculpture in stone on a square base.

The sculpture is an elongated oval with a slight tilt and a flat top. The stone is pale brownish white, the surface is covered with a series of cracks but is highly polished. The oval sits on an unfinished square base of stone which is the same color.

Gallery Text

In 1908 Brancusi began a series of sculptures on the theme of the torso. The earliest of these are simply body fragments, almost classical in style, in which naturalistic details indicate the subject. By contrast, the later works in the series are almost entirely abstracted; anatomical detail gives way to pure forms, a curve and an angle rendered in stone that conveys the translucency of young skin. These forms are revealed through direct carving, the method Brancusi prized above all, although he often replicated works in plaster or metal. Throughout the torso series, a single feature is made to stand for the whole body, an approach to depiction that was as important to modern sculpture as it was to cubist painting. Brancusi’s innovations would resonate throughout the twentieth century.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1998.293
People
Constantin Brancusi, Romanian (Hobita (Gorj), Romania 1876 - 1957 Paris, France)
Title
Torso of a Young Girl
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture
Date
1922
Culture
Romanian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/226227

Location

Location
Level 1, Room 1300, Modern and Contemporary Art, Early Modernism
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Physical Descriptions

Medium
Onyx
Dimensions
33.02 x 22.86 cm (13 x 9 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Collection of the artist, sold; to John Quinn (1922-1924) sold; his sale [Brummer Gallery, 1926] ; to Mary H. Rumsey, NY. [Buchholz Gallery, New York], sold; to Lois Orswell (1950?- 1998) bequest; to the Harvard University Art Museums.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, The Lois Orswell Collection
Copyright
© Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris
Accession Year
1998
Object Number
1998.293
Division
Modern and Contemporary Art
Contact
am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
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Publication History

  • Judith Zilczer, 'The Noble Buyer': John Quinn, Patron of the Avant-Garde, exh. cat., Smithsonian Institution Press (Washington, D.C, 1978), p. 151
  • Friedrich Teja Bach, Constantin Brancusi: Metamorphosen Plasticher Form, DuMont Buchverlag (Köln, Germany, 1987), reproduced b/w, pp. 464-465
  • Marjorie B. Cohn and Sarah Kianovsky, Lois Orswell, David Smith, and Modern Art, exh. cat., Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2002), cat. no. 9, fig. 27, pp. 62-63, 306, 374
  • Carmen Giménez, ed., Constantin Brancusi: The Essence of Things, exh. cat., Tate Gallery Publishing Limited (London, UK, 2004), p. 78, cat. 6 (repr. in color), p. 55 (text)
  • Dore Ashton, On Constantin Brancusi, Raritan: A Quarterly Review, Rutgers University Press (New Brunswick, NJ, 2006), p. 26, fig. 2
  • Constantin Brancusi and Richard Serra, brochure (Basel, Switzerland, 2011), ill. (color)
  • Oliver Wick, ed., Constantin Brancusi and Richard Serra: A Handbook of Possibilities, exh. cat., Fondation Beyeler (Basel, 2011), p.191, ill.

Exhibition History

  • A Century of Sculpture, Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence, 03/30/1950 - 05/18/1950
  • Lois Orswell, David Smith, and Modern Art, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/21/2002 - 02/16/2003
  • Constantin Brancusi: The Essence of Things, Tate Modern, London, 01/29/2004 - 05/23/2004; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 06/10/2004 - 09/19/2004
  • Brancusi and Serra in Dialogue: Sculpture in Relation to Base and Architecture, Pulitzer Arts Foundation, St. Louis, 02/05/2005 - 09/24/2005
  • HAA 10 Survey Course (S421): The Western Tradition: Art Since the Renaissance (Fall 08 Rotation 2), Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 10/23/2008 - 11/16/2008
  • HAA 10 Survey Course (S421): The Western Tradition: Art Since the Renaissance (Fall 09 Rotation 2), Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 10/16/2009 - 11/08/2009
  • HAA 10 Survey Course (S421): The Western Tradition: Art Since the Renaissance (Fall 10 Rotation 2), Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 10/15/2010 - 11/06/2010
  • Constantin Brancusi and Richard Serra: Resting in Time and Space, Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel, 05/22/2011 - 08/21/2011
  • HAA 10 Survey Course (S421): The Western Tradition: Art Since the Renaissance (Fall 11 Rotation 2), Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, 10/07/2011 - 11/05/2011
  • 32Q: 1300 Early Modernism, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050

Subjects and Contexts

  • Collection Highlights

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Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Modern and Contemporary Art at am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu