Constantin Brancusi's Bird in Space of about 1941 is a bronze sculpture in the Museum of Modern Art. The bronze rises 182.9 centimeters above a two-part stone pedestal. Its long, tapering body replaces the familiar parts of a bird with a continuous silhouette, making proportion and the movement of reflected light central to the work.
The form narrows near its support, swells through the middle, and ends in a slender tip. Its polished surface picks up the surroundings, so the apparent edges and brightness change as a viewer moves. Below it, the pale, weighty stone establishes a contrasting base. The juxtaposition can make the bronze seem unusually light despite its material.
Brancusi first made Bird in Space in marble in 1923 and subsequently developed related versions in other materials. According to MoMA, he altered plaster models before casting each bronze, changing proportions rather than producing identical repetitions. The series therefore demonstrates abstraction as a sustained process of adjustment, with each sculpture testing the effect of small formal differences.
Noguchi Sculpture The Gunas
