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BRANCUSI, Constantin

Hobitza, Romania 1876 - Paris 1957

Nancy Cunard [Jeune fille sophistiquée]

Nancy Cunard [also called Sophisticated Young Lady]

1925-1927

walnut on marble base

head

Dimensions (HxWxD): 24 3⁄4 x 12 1⁄2 x 4 3⁄8 in.

Acc. No.: F99-33/3

Credit Line: Gift of the Hall Family Foundation, acquired from the Patsy and Raymond Nasher Collection

Photo credit: The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City

© Artist : Fair Use (Section 107, Copyright Act 1976)

Kansas City, Missouri, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

www.nelson-atkins.org

Provenance

  • 1927-1950, the artist
  • 1950-1986, his gift to Alexina “Teeny” Duchamp (née Sattler, 1906-1995), Villiers-sous-Grez, France and New York,
  • 1986-1991, Dallas, TX, Purchased from Teeny Duchamp by Patsy (born Rabinowitz, d. 1988) and Raymond (1921-2007) Nasher
  • 1991-1999, Kansas City, MO, Purchased from Raymond Nasher by the Hall Family Foundation
  • 1999, Kansas City, MO, their Gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Bibliography

  • Museum's website, 9 August, 2012; July 26, 2023
  • 2003 Nash, Giménez and Brenson
    Steven A. Nash, Carmen Giménez, Michael Brenson, A Century of Sculpture: The Nasher Collection, Dallas, The Nasher Foundation, 2003 (first published in 1997, expanded and republished in 2003 by The Nasher Foundation on the occasion of the inauguration in October 2003 of the Nasher Sculpture Center), p. 108-109, repr., 363

Comment

  • Museum's website (accessed 07/11/2023) :
    This unconventional portrait captures the erect posture, prominent forehead, and receding chin of the subject in a simplified manner that also conveys her elegance. The artist met Nancy Cunard, a shipping heiress, in Paris. She was a jazz lover and poet, the owner/publisher of Hours Press, and an outspoken political activist fighting racism and, later, fascism.
    Constantin Brancusi studied sculpture in Bucharest and Munich before moving to Paris. There he studied with sculptor Auguste Rodin. From the beginning, Brancusi paid careful attention to the bases of his sculptures, making them essential components of the works themselves.