At MoMA, Brancusi's studio sheds light on his sculptures
· BehindLines newsroom
Looking at a sculpture also means looking at what surrounds it. That is the starting point chosen by the Museum of Modern Art in New York for its exhibition devoted to Constantin Brancusi. Presented from 25 October 2026 to 27 February 2027, it approaches his work through the Paris studio where he lived and worked.
The base enters the picture
The museum brings together sculptures, but also furniture and bases carved by the artist, tools, photographs, films and documents. Some elements come from the Atelier Brancusi preserved at the Centre Pompidou, which supports the exhibition.
According to MoMA's presentation, the studio on impasse Ronsin accommodated creation, everyday life, encounters and the display of works. The exhibition therefore invites attention to the relationships between a sculpture, its support and the surrounding space. A base can guide the eye as much as it physically carries a piece.
Variations rather than a single form
Pace gallery describes a practice based on working materials directly and polishing them at length. Brancusi revisited certain motifs over the years: the kiss, the muse and animal forms. Wood, stone and bronze allowed different versions of these explorations.
This context helps explain why placing works together is about more than classifying them by subject. A surface, a material or a proportion can change how a form is perceived. The studio then becomes a way of reading work as it develops.
Organised by Anne Umland and Mia Matthias with Samantha Small, the exhibition offers this documentary and artistic framework. For visitors, the approach gives the conditions of creation a place alongside the finished forms.