It’s Studio Sunday, so let’s take a look inside the art studio of Constantin Brancusi. Brancusi was born in Romania, but came to France to pursue his artistic career, primarily as an abstract sculptor. After studying at the Paris Ecole des Beaux-Arts in 1905, Brancusi befriended other great artists of the time such as Marcel Duchamp, Henri Matisse and Amedeo Modigliani. The artist completed his last sculpture in 1949, a few years before his death in 1957.

Brancusi’s studio was on a lower-level, it seems, with stairs leading up and out. It almost has the feel of a basement workshop. I enjoy the wood walls that are visible – to be fully surrounded by the material that one is working with would be quite interesting and inspiring. Some of our own artists have created alien sculptures that are reminiscent of Brancusi's work.

I’m fascinated by the wall of wood carving tools on the right side of the photo above. Brancusi’s studio was very well equipped, and it seems that the artist had full power over his materials. The range of tools would allow him to carve something roughly or have it be very smooth and refined. There are quite a few works in progress in this image, at varying stages of the process. In the centre of the photo is a smooth, tapered column that looks like Brancusi has been working on it for a while, and in the back are a few pieces of wood that look like the artist has barely started on them. It would be interesting, from a process point of view, to be able to see how far you’ve come on one work by looking back at another less-finished one. 

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