Bird in Space
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Bird in Space is a series of sculptures by Constantin Brancusi, a Romanian sculptor. The original work was created in 1923.
Seven of the sculptures in the series are made of marble, while the other nine were cast in bronze. The first and best known of the series is housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, while a bronze-cast one resides in that city's Museum of Modern Art. Three copies of the sculpture are housed in the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Bird in Space was the cause of a court battle due to the piece being taxed by US Customs. The argument was in regards to Brancusi stating that the sculpture was 'art' and not taxable materials.
"It traces a bird's flight. It captures the essence of upward thrust," He concentrated not on the physical attributes of the bird but on its movement. In "Bird in Space" wings and feathers are eliminated, the swell of the body is elongated, and the head and beak are reduced to a slanted oval plane.
