Maiastra

Constantin Brancusi · 1910-12

Before you is Maiastra, a white marble bird on a limestone pedestal whose middle section is itself a sculpture — Double Caryatid, carved a couple of years earlier. The Maiastra is a magical bird from Romanian folklore, and Brancusi returned to it for the rest of his life, refining it toward the Bird in Space nearby.

Medium White marble 22" (55.9 cm) high, on three-part limestone pedestal 70" (177.8 cm) high, of which the middle section is Double Caryatid, c. 1908 · Credit Katherine S. Dreier Bequest

Hanging beside it in Gallery 508: Fish, Endless Column

Works like this one elsewhere in the museum: Caryatid, Development of a Bottle in Space, Torso, Tiari, The Devil with Claws, Apartment

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