Socrates

Constantin Brancusi · 1922

This is Socrates, carved in oak in nineteen twenty-two — a tall form pierced through by a hole that runs its length. Brancusi is said to have described it as the philosopher who sees everything. Whether or not he did, the object does have a single eye and an empty interior.

Medium Oak 43 3/4 x 11 3/8 x 14 1/2" (111 x 28.8 x 36.8 cm), on oak footing 7 1/2 x 9 3/4 x 10 5/8" (18.8 x 24.6 x 27 cm), overall 51 1/4" (130 cm) high. Limestone cylinder, 11 7/8" (30.2 cm) high · Credit Mrs. Simon Guggenheim Fund

Hanging beside it in Gallery 508: Enak's Tears (Terrestrial Forms), Bird in Space

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

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