Constantin Brancusi

The Kiss (Le Baiser), 1907-1908 (cast before 1914)

Plaster
11 x 10 1/4 x 8 1/2 in. (27.9 x 26 x 21.6 cm.)

Raymond and Patsy Nasher Collection, Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, TX

The Kiss represents Brancusi’s “road to Damascus” moment in which he distinguished himself from the tow­ering figure of Rodin through the technique of carving directly into stone and cultivating a pristine and sensuous style that drew on the examples of African tribal and an­cient Cycladic figures. Brancusi originally carved The Kiss in stone, and the work established his reputation as an important avant-garde sculptor. The version in the Nasher Collection is one of several plaster casts that Brancusi made of the original carved stone in an effort to meet de­mands for exhibitions. Thin raised lines on the sculpture—on the figures’ arms and heads, for example—indicate that the mold was made in several pieces. Interestingly, it seems a previous owner of the piece had displayed it outdoors as there is visible erosion on the heads, arms and hands, most likely from rainfall.

Brancusi’s work was crucial to Serra’s decision to pursue sculpture:

When I was living in Paris [in 1964–65] I hadn’t made any sculpture yet but I went to Brancusi’s studio almost daily for a good part of a month and made drawings there. I looked at his work as a handbook of possibilities. But it didn’t say to me, ‘Make sculpture like Brancusi.’