Brancusi. A Legendary Life

Foreword Why isn't there a biography of Brancusi yet? We have asked ourselves this question seventeen years ago and find it as bewildered as it referred to a sculptor of whom it was said: "Next to Shakespeare and Beethoven, there is yet a god: and that is the Romanian Constantin Brancusi"; or "The history of sculpture, in Europe, measures only three landmarks: Phidias—Michelangelo—Brancusi." And soon this bewilderment turned to frustration. We had to admit, then, that such a biographical attempt is not in the least easy. First of all, the one who dares approach such a task should have access to several cultures: Romanian, French, and, although Brancusi lived almost half a century in France, especially American. For most of his life, the sculptor was in a position to live physically in France, but to be financially dependent on his American patrons. And not only that. His recognition came in 1913 at the famous Armory Show in New York. And the extraordinary celebrity that followed was brought to him by the even more famous „Bird trial", known as Brancusi v. United States, which also took place in the US. The enthusiasm with which Brancusi was embraced by the Americans was incredible. Therefore, a very large number of the most important names of American culture wrote about him, leaving to posterity a vast body of memories outside of which Constantin Brancusi's biography cannot be written. Naturally, the attempt should have come from the Romanians, whose interest in such an illustrious representative born amongst them is somewhat greater. But the political context surrounding Romania after the Second World War couldn't have favored the appearance of a Brancusi biographer. The Iron Curtain between Romania and those cultures where Brancusi became renowned cut back the number of people who were allowed to travel and made research almost impossible.