News Release
ATZ240221E_E

March 13, 2024
Artizon Museum
Ishibashi Foundation

Brancusi: Carving the Essence
March 30 [Sat] – July 7 [Sun], 2024
The captions for the works on display have been changed.

Constantin BRANCUSI, The Kiss, 1907-10, Plaster, H 28.0 cm, Artizon Museum, Ishibashi Foundation

The Artizon Museum, Ishibashi Foundation (Director: Ishibashi Hiroshi), presents
Brancusi: Carving the Essence.
The sculptor Constantin Brancusi (1876-1957), who was born in Romania, is known asa pioneering artist who, through his exploration of pure form, carved out new territoryin twentieth-century sculpture, post Rodin. This exhibition makes his sculptures its corein weaving together, through his two-dimensional works such as fresco, tempera,drawing, and photographs, showcasing the totality of Brancusi’s creative activities. It is
the first exhibition at an art museum in Japan to present Brancusi comprehensively.
About ninety exhibits include over twenty sculptures on loan from the Brancusi Estateand museums and other collections in Japan and abroad, plus paintings, andphotography.
1/5Constantin Brancusi
Born in Hobiţa, Romania, Brancusi studied at the Bucharest School ofFine Arts, then moved to Paris in 1904. While invited to work as an
assistant in Rodin’s studio, he held that position only briefly before
leaving to engage in his own work. His sculptures have wild shapes
influenced by the forms of non-western art such as African Sculpture
discovered at the same period, while he sought elegant forms
backed by his acute sense of his materials. Brancusi is known for theenormous influence he had on his contemporaries and artists of later
generations.
Constantin Brancusi, 1924 (Photo by Katherine Dreier) Artizon Museum, Ishibashi Foundation

Exhibition Highlights
1. The First Brancusi Exhibition at an Art Museum in Japan
While Brancusi is famed as a leading twentieth-century sculptor, until now no museum inJapan has held a major exhibition focusing primarily on his sculptural works. This exhibitionis the first opportunity to experience his creations themselves.

2. A Gathering of over Twenty Sculptures, from Japan and Abroad,Covering His Early to Later Periods
This exhibition presents work by Brancusi from his early period, when
he retained the influence of academic realism and Rodin, to the1910s, when he reduced the forms of his subjects to their essence,and then the period from 1920 on when he made his subjects
increasingly abstract, as in Bird. The exhibition thus achieves athorough presentation from which we can glimpse Brancusi’s path asa sculptor.
Constantin BRANCUSI, Mademoiselle Pogany II, 1925 (cast: 2006) , Polished bronze, H. 44.8cm,Artizon Museum, Ishibashi Foundation3）Presenting his Multifaceted Aspects as a CreatorThis exhibition also introduces paintings and photographs byBrancusi. While he consistently made sculpture the core of his creativework, his approach of exploring crosscutting fields, using othertechniques in relation to his sculpture, is quintessentially modern. His
acute awareness of the nature of his materials, evident in hissculptures, is also highly craftsmanlike. This exhibition highlights his
many aspects as a creator.
Constantin BRANCUSI, View of the Studio, "The Endless Column", "Mademoiselle Pogany II",1925, Gelatinsilver print, Tokyo Photographic Art Museum

2/5Works on Display
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3/51）Constantin BRANCUSI, Suffering, 1907, Bronze, 29.2×28.8×22.3cm, The Art Institute ofChicago/ Art Resource, NY2）Constantin BRANCUSI, Sleeping Muse, c. 1910-1911, Plaster, 19.0×28.0×19.5cm,Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka (On display until May 12)3）Constantin BRANCUSI, Standing Boy, c.1913, Tempera on paper, 57.9×33.7cm, Menard ArtMuseum4）Constantin BRANCUSI, The Cock, 1924 (cast: 1972), Bronze, 92.4×10.5×45.0cm, Toyota
Municipal Museum of Art5）Constantin BRANCUSI, Fish, 1924-26 (cast: 1992), Polished bronze, 13.5×42.0×3.0cm,Brancusi Estate6）Constantin BRANCUSI, Bird in Space, 1926 (cast: 1982), Bronze on marble and limestonebase, 132.4×35.5×35.5cm, Yokohama Museum of Art7）Constantin BRANCUSI, Sophisticated Young Lady (Portrait of Nancy Cunard), 1928-32 (cast:2013), Polished bronze, 54.9 x 14.9 x 21.9 cm, Brancusi Estate8）Constantin BRANCUSI, Bird, 1930, Fresco, 29.0×47.0cm, Brancusi Estate

Exhibition Overview
Exhibition title:
Organized byUnder the auspices ofVenue:
Exhibition period:
Opening hours:
Closed:Admission (incl. tax):

Brancusi: Carving the Essence
Artizon Museum, Ishibashi Foundation, The Asahi Shimbun
Embassy of France / Institut français du Japon, Embassy of Romania
Artizon Museum, 6F Gallery
March 30 [Sat] - July 7 [Sun], 2024
10:00 - 18:00 (until 20:00 on Fridays except May 3)*Last entry 30 minutes before closing.
Mondays (except April 29, May 6), April 30, May 7
Timed entry system(Online booking starts from January 30, 2024)
Online ticket: 1,800 yen
In-Person ticket (purchase at museum): 2,000 yen
Students: Free entry (Advance online booking required.)*In-Person ticket may be purchased at the museum, if the time slot is not full.
*Advance booking is not required for children up to junior high school age.
*This admission fee gives the visitor access to all concurrent exhibitions.

Curators:Jérôme NEUTRES (Independent Curator)
SHIMAMOTO Hideaki (Curator, Artizon Museum, Ishibashi Foundation)
UEDA Anna (Curator, Artizon Museum, Ishibashi Foundation)

Concurrent Exhibition
Selections from the Ishibashi Foundation Collections
The Ishibashi Foundation Collection now consists of approximately 3,000 works, including
Impressionist paintings from the latter half of the nineteenth century, modern paintings fromthe twentieth century, modern Japanese paintings from the Meiji period on, postwar Abstract
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paintings, early modern art from Japan and elsewhere in East Asia, and ancient Greek andRoman art. Here we introduce works selected from the collection at 5 and 4 Galleries.

Special Section SHIMIZU Takashi（4F Gallery）
Shimizu Takashi (1897-1981), Japan’s leading modern sculptor,
originally wanted to be a painter. While studying abroad inFrance, he was awakened to the possibilities of sculpture byencountering Bourdelle’s work. He also continues to paint andwas quite successful in both fields, becoming, for example, thefirst Japanese artist to have both paintings and sculptures
accepted for the Salon d’automne. This exhibition is focused onseventeen new acquisitions in highlighting Shimizu’s paintingsfrom his time in Europe.

SHIMIZU Takashi, Gazing at the Heights, 1927, Artizon Museum, Ishibashi Foundation

Artizon Museum
1-7-2 Kyobashi Chuo-ku Tokyo 104-0031 Japan
Tel. Domestic: 050-5541-8600 International: +81 47-316-2772 (Hello Dial)
https://www.artizon.museum/en/
Directions: 5 minutes on foot from JR Tokyo Station (Yaesu Central Exit); Tokyo Metro Ginza Line Kyobashi
Station (No.6, 7 Exit); Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, Tozai Line, Toei Asakusa Line Nihombashi Station (B1 Exit)

Images for Press Use
If using only one image, choose The Kiss from Page1.
Include image credits as provided. Do NOT trim images or overlay them with text.
＊If using a detail, please add (detail) after the title of the work.
■ Please download images from the site below.
Download images for press use here: https://www.artpr.jp/artizon/brancusi2023
For inquiries about this press release:Artizon Museum Public Relations GroupE-mail: publicity@artizon.jp TEL: +81 3-6263-0132(Direct)
1-7-2 Kyobashi Chuo-ku Tokyo 104-0031

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