Brancusi's Bird in Space

1923 · Work

A polished bronze curve with no wings, no feathers and no feet — flight itself, with the bird left out. When a cast entered America in 1926, customs taxed it as raw metal, refusing to call it art; the trial Brancusi won established in law what his studio had established in fact: sculpture no longer had to look like anything.

On these timelines: Painting & Sculpture, Arts and Thoughts, Master, France

More from Painting & Sculpture

Around 1923

Wikipedia ↗

Explore the full Ever-When timeline →