Umberto Boccioni

1913   |  Unique Forms of Continuity in Space

Duchamp-Villon was an expert horseman, serving as an auxiliary doctor in a cavalry regiment during the war. This sculpture developed from his studies of a leaping horse and rider to become an abstract evocation of dynamic energy and power.

What makes one Brancusi sculpture work is in fact what makes the whole ensemble of them work: its contrast between what are often very different shapes, textures, and colors.

"Wassily" was first manufactured in the late 1920s by Thonet, the German-Austrian furniture manufacturer most known for its bent-wood chair designs, under the name Model B3.

 In 1926 a U.S. customs official insisted on labeling a version of the sculpture as a "miscellaneous household good" rather than a work of art, which would be tax-exempt for importation. After a long courtroom battle, the presiding judge stated that "while some difficulty might be encountered in associating it with a bird, it is nevertheless pleasing to look at and highly ornamental," and he ruled in Brancusi's favor.

The Futurist movement was striving to portray speed and forceful dynamism in their art. Boccioni, though trained as a painter, began sculpting in 1912. He exclaimed that "these days I am obsessed by sculpture! I believe I have glimpsed a complete renovation of that mummified art."

 In 1926 a U.S. customs official insisted on labeling a version of the sculpture as a "miscellaneous household good" rather than a work of art, which would be tax-exempt for importation. After a long courtroom battle, the presiding judge stated that "while some difficulty might be encountered in associating it with a bird, it is nevertheless pleasing to look at and highly ornamental," and he ruled in Brancusi's favor.