To what extent did primitive art inspire Brancusi
Expressionism is a much less important current in sculpture than in painting, since the ethnographic sculpture by the Fauves might have evoked a strong response among sculptors Only one important sculptor shared in this rediscovery Brancusi, a Rumanian, moved to Paris to study advanced art around 1904 But he was more interested in the formal simplicity and coherence of primitive carvings than in their savage expressiveness; this is evidenced in The Kiss which was executed in 1909 Brancusi had a 'genius of ommission' - to Brancusi a monument is an upright slab, symmetrical and immobile - a permanent marker like the styles of the ancients and he disturbed the basic shape as little as possible The Embracing Lovers are more primeval than primitive They are a timeless symbol of generations - innocent and anonoymous Brancusi's 'primevalism' was the starting point of a sculptural tradition that still continues today Until now, African pottery, wooden carvings, and textiles had been viewed essentially as handicraft because, it was argued, the religious, military, sexual, or decorative functions of the works suggested that they had not been created as art, to be appreciated for their own sake It was the magical and m
One Egyptian word for sculptor was actually 'He-who-keeps-alive' The Egyptians held the belief that the preservation of the body was not enough If the likeness of the king was also preserved, it was doubly sure that he would continue to exist forever So they ordered sculptors to chisel the kings head out of hard, imperishable granite, and put it in the tomb where no one saw it, there to work its spell and to help his soul to keep alive in and through the image, so too their artists created art for eternity I believe it was in this same vein that Brancusi wrote Brancusi's early works were influenced by Rodin and by the impressionists, but after 1908 he rapidly evolved his characteristic personal style With the basic intention of laying bare the underlying nature of an image, he abandoned the use of live models and adapted a simplified, streamlined style In describing the evolution of his art, he said: "One arrives at simplicity as one approaches the real meaning of things" Two simple organic shapes predominate in his work: the egg and the elongated cylinder An example of the former is Sleeping Muse , in which the figure is represented simply as a stylized ovoid head Bird in Space is a long, graceful cylinder of polished metal, its lines reminiscent of the curve of a bird's wing Here Brancusi refined the organic form to the point where it became almost totally abstract, a conceptual rather than an actual representation The artist also worked in more geometric shapes
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1619
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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