Untitled (Head of a Young Woman)
Constantin Brâncuși
Romanian and French, born Romania. 1876–1957
1910
A gelatin silver print showing Brâncuși’s carved Head of a Young Woman, where the artist pares away detail to present a calm, iconic profile formed from smooth planes and a textured, ribbonlike braid.
You’re struck by the intimate crop and the tactile contrast: the polished, curved cheek and neck set against the deeply textured, coiled braid that falls like a stone ribbon into shadow.
The image records Brâncuși’s move toward radical simplification—reducing the human figure to essential, tactile volumes—and shows how photography helped make modern sculpture into a new, widely recognized visual language.
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
6 1/4 × 4 5/8" (15.8 × 11.7 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of Edward Steichen
Accession
151.1964
Palette
Exhibitions
