Constantin Brancusi: The Essence of Things
Every generation has its own Brancusi. For Modernists he was the gleaming, quintessential abstractionist. For Minimalists, a truth-to-materials process artist. For our recent photo-based era, a matchless natural-light photographer. In this catalogue for the touring Tate Modern/ Guggenheim exhibition, the curator Carmen Giménez acknowledges this multiplicity by titling her essay "Endless Brancusi." It is a charming, informative essay that matches the charming, visceral reproductions, which make the sculptures ageless and fresh. A pithy appendix of aphorisms concludes the book with the varied sounds of Brancusi's voice: to see far, that is one thing: to go there, that is another; theories are nothing but meaningless specimens; male nudes in sculpture are not even as beautiful as toads. All in all, it makes for an engaging, three-dimensional portrait.
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