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''Princess X'' is a sculpture by the artist
Brâncuși insisted the sculpture had been his rendition of Marie Bonaparte and discussed the comparison of the bronze figure to the princess. He described his detestation of Marie, as a "vain woman." He claimed she went as far as placing a hand mirror on the table at mealtimes, so she could gaze upon herself. The sculpture's C-like form reveals a woman looking over and gazing down, as if looking into an object. The large anchors of the sculpture resemble the "beautiful bust" which she possessed. Without knowing the context, to a viewer Princess X could look like an erect penis. The princess as seen shown to the right, Brâncuși allows to gaze upon herself in an eternal loop locked in the bronze sculpture.
The style of Brâncuși "was largely fueled by myths, folklore, and primitive culture," this combined with the modern materials and tools Brâncuși used to sculpt, "formed a unique contrast...resulting in a distinctive kind of modernity and timelessness." The technique Brâncuși was known for and used on Princess X could be mistaken for a penis, but in fact it was the simple form of a woman.
The publisher
Constantin Brâncuși
Constantin Brâncuși (; February 19, 1876 – March 16, 1957) was a Romanian Sculpture, sculptor, painter and photographer who made his career in France. Considered one of the most influential sculptors of the 20th-century and a pioneer of ...
depicting the Princess Marie Bonaparte
Princess Marie Bonaparte (2 July 1882 – 21 September 1962), known as Princess George of Greece and Denmark upon her marriage, was a French author and psychoanalyst, closely linked with Sigmund Freud. Her wealth contributed to the popularity o ...
, a psychoanalyst in her own right and great supporter of Freud. A polished bronze atop a limestone block
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms when th ...
stands tall, the piece was created between 1915 and 1916, and is now part of the permanent collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMoA) is an art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at the northwest end of the Benjamin Fr ...
.
The work was originally part of a "notorious scandal" when the Salon des Indépendants
Salon may refer to:
Common meanings
* Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments
* French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home
* Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment
Arts and entertainment
* Salon (P ...
removed ''Princess X'' from display for its apparent obscene content, after some objected to the sculpture's phallic
A phallus is a penis (especially when erect), an object that resembles a penis, or a mimetic image of an erect penis. In art history a figure with an erect penis is described as ithyphallic.
Any object that symbolically—or, more precisely ...
resemblance. Brâncuși was reportedly shocked and declared the incident a misunderstanding; he had created ''Princess X'' to evoke feminine desire and vanity.
Scandal in Paris
Brâncuși insisted the sculpture had been his rendition of Marie Bonaparte and discussed the comparison of the bronze figure to the princess. He described his detestation of Marie, as a "vain woman." He claimed she went as far as placing a hand mirror on the table at mealtimes, so she could gaze upon herself. The sculpture's C-like form reveals a woman looking over and gazing down, as if looking into an object. The large anchors of the sculpture resemble the "beautiful bust" which she possessed. Without knowing the context, to a viewer Princess X could look like an erect penis. The princess as seen shown to the right, Brâncuși allows to gaze upon herself in an eternal loop locked in the bronze sculpture.
The style of Brâncuși "was largely fueled by myths, folklore, and primitive culture," this combined with the modern materials and tools Brâncuși used to sculpt, "formed a unique contrast...resulting in a distinctive kind of modernity and timelessness." The technique Brâncuși was known for and used on Princess X could be mistaken for a penis, but in fact it was the simple form of a woman.
Cultural references to ''Princess X''
The publisher Robert McAlmon
Robert Menzies McAlmon (also used Robert M. McAlmon, as his signature name, March 9, 1895 – February 2, 1956) was an American writer, poet, and publisher. In the 1920s, he founded in Paris the publishing house, Contact Editions, where he publ ...
's 1925 collection of short stories ''Distinguished Air
The ruling made by the judge or panel of judges must be based on the evidence at hand and the standard binding precedents covering the subject-matter (they must be ''followed'').
Definition
In law, to distinguish a case means a court decides th ...
'' is set in the gay culture of 1920s Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
. One of these stories revolves around an exhibition of ''Princess X'', and the audience's reaction to it.
In 1930, the watercolour painter Charles Demuth
Charles Henry Buckius Demuth (November 8, 1883 – October 23, 1935) was an American painter who specialized in watercolors and turned to oils late in his career, developing a style of painting known as Precisionism.
"Search the history of Ameri ...
painted ''Distinguished Air'', based on this story. Two of the viewers, one a gay sailor in uniform, study the phallus-like sculpture, emphasized in the painting. The husband of a married couple, an American with the 'distinguished air' of the title, is more interested in admiring the sailor.
References
Bibliography
* Brancusi (Brâncuși), ''Constantin (1876–1957)''. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2004. * Balas, Edith. ''Brâncuși and His World''. Pittsburgh: Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2008. * Bass, Jennifer Durham. ''Brâncuși, Constantin''. Vol. 1. Millerton, NY: Grey House Publishing, Inc, 2007. * Chave, Anna. ''Constantin Brâncuși: Shifting the Bases of Art''. New Haven Yale UP (1993). * Miller, Sanda. ''Constantin Brâncuși''. London: Reaktion (2010). * {{Constantin Brancusi 1916 sculptures Bronze sculptures in Pennsylvania Sculptures in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art Obscenity controversies in sculpture Sculptures by Constantin Brâncuși