Bird in Space

Constantin Brancusi · 1928

Before you is Bird in Space, cast in bronze by Constantin Brancusi in nineteen twenty-eight. In nineteen twenty-six United States customs refused to accept a Bird like this one as art and taxed it as raw metal. Brancusi went to court, and the trial that followed changed how the law defines sculpture.

Medium Bronze · Dimensions 54 x 8 1/2 x 6 1/2" (137.2 x 21.6 x 16.5 cm) · Credit Given anonymously

Hanging beside it in Gallery 508: Socrates

Works like this one elsewhere in the museum: Nickel Construction

More by Constantin Brancusi here: The Newborn, Young Bird, Maiastra, Endless Column, Socrates, Fish