Constantin Brancusi – Leda, c. 1921 Vintage silver gelatin print. Courtesy of Thaddaeus Ropac gallery, London · Paris · Salzburg · Milan · Seoul© Succession Brancusi / Adagp, Paris, 2025
Following the major retrospective dedicated to Constantin Brancusi (1876–1957) at the Centre Pompidou, Paris last year a selection of his photographic work, spanning 1906 to 1938 is at Thaddaeus Ropac Paris Marais until December 23. The Romanian artist’s photography was an integral part of his artistic practice and evolved alongside his sculpture from early in his career. In 1956 Brancusi bequeathed his entire studio to the French State, including a number of photographs, which were the subject of a focused exhibition running alongside the artist’s first retrospective in France at the Centre Pompidou in 1995.
Brancusi began experimenting with the medium following his arrival in Paris in 1904. He immersed himself in the photographic and cinematographic avant-gardes and befriended numerous photographers including Edward Steichen, Alfred Stieglitz and Man Ray. Brancusi notably accompanied Steichen to take nocturnal shots of Rodin’s Balzac sculpture – a formative event that fostered his experimental approach to photography. In 1917, Brancusi met Irish American lawyer John Quinn, one of the most important collectors of modern and avant garde art of his generation. Quinn would become one of his most prominent collectors and, crucially, acquired most of his sculptures from photographs. In 1913, five of Brancusi’s sculptures were displayed in the seminal Armory Show in New York.
