Constantin Brancusi - Photographs New York Wednesday, April 4, 2012 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    From the Collection of Irene Codreanu, a sculptor and student of Brancusi
    Ubu Gallery, New York

  • Literature

    Agrinde Publications Ltd., Brancusi Photographer, pl. 77
    Cahiers d'Art, 1927, n.p.
    Der Querschnitt, 1923, p. 117
    The Art Bulletin, 1964, n.p.

  • Catalogue Essay

    As a former protégé of Auguste Rodin and a master sculptor in his own right, Constantin Brancusi believed that only his eye could best capture his sculptures. Working out of his studio at 8, impasse Rosin in Paris, Brancusi began photographing his sculptures as early as 1905, experimenting with different sizes and typically making at least 2 prints from each negative. His intention was creaing "printed memory" of his work, as he termed it. After befriending Man Ray in the early 1920s, Brancusi devoted a great deal to photography, setting up a dark room in his studio and turning his bath tub into a washbasin for developing his films. The marble sculpture in the current lot represents a true work-in-progress for the artist, as, after being reworked, it transformed into one of his most iconic and notorious sculptures, Princess X, 1916.

36

Femme se regardant dans un miroir

1909
Gelatin silver print, printed 1920s.
11 3/4 x 9 3/8 in. (29.8 x 23.8 cm)

Estimate
$15,000 - 20,000 

Sold for $43,750

Contact Specialist
Vanessa Kramer Hallett
Worldwide Head of Photographs
vhallett@phillips.com
+ 1 212 940 1245

Photographs

4 April 2012
New York