Maiastra
Constantin Brâncuși
Romanian and French, born Romania. 1876–1957
1910-12
A small, intensely polished white-marble bird—Maiastra—resting on a three-part limestone pedestal that combines a geometric block and rough twin legs, the artist striving to express the mythic bird’s essence through radical simplification.
What hits you is the stark contrast between the smooth, egglike bird poised delicately on a cubic block and the weathered, leg-like support below, creating a tall, totemic vertical that lifts the refined form above a raw, almost archaeological base.
Created as Brâncuși moved toward pure abstraction, Maiastra fuses folk legend with pared-down volumes and highly finished surfaces, helping to redefine modern sculpture by privileging essential form and spiritual presence over literal representation.
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
Classification
Department
Credit
Katherine S. Dreier Bequest
Accession
144.1953.a-d
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
