Photographs by Constantin Brâncuși
Vintage Prints in Dialogue with Carl Andre, Marion Baruch, and Evariste Richer 22.05 – 27.09.2026
Guided by the principles of vision, spatialization, and contextualization, this exhibition presents vintage black-and-white photographs by Constantin Brâncuși (1876–1957), spanning his career from 1906 at the École des Beaux-Arts de Paris to the monumental Târgu Jiu ensemble (1937–38). For Brâncuși, photography was not mere documentation, but a sustained practice used to perceive and re-examine his own sculptural works.
Curated by Gregory Lang, in collaboration with Ioana Șerban.
Vintage photographs by Constantin Brâncuși, Courtesy of David Grob Gallery
Brâncuși’s photographic approach was defined by an obsessive attention to light, which he viewed as an integral part of his sculptures, and their environment. The selection reveals a specific intent: he photographed not only the sculptures, but the voids and atmosphere surrounding them. The exhibition is organized into three parts, each placing Brâncuși’s vintage prints in dialogue with a contemporary artwork.
The Studio in Space Views of Brâncuși’s sculptures within his studio, arranged in relation to other works and plinths, are paired with a work by Carl Andre (1935–2024). Andre’s ground-based copper installation 2 x 18 Cyprigene invites direct interaction, echoing Brâncuși’s spatial concepts. Where Brâncuși elevated his pedestals to the status of art, Andre dissolves the pedestal entirely, creating work the viewer can walk on. Each artist erases the boundary between object and support.
The Backdrop and the Monochrome Views featuring studio backdrops, used to control the photographic frame and neutralize surroundings, are presented alongside Les Fonds by Evariste Richer (b. 1969). Richer reinterprets, at a 1:1 scale, the painted backgrounds of Brâncuși’s Paris studio, elevating them to four monochromatic canvases. Both artists move beyond documentation, abstracting the sculpture from real space and granting it a singular, autonomous existence.
Vintage photographs by Constantin Brâncuși, Courtesy of David Grob Gallery
Marion Barruch, Trajectories, Courtesy of the artist & Galerie Anne-Sarah Benichou
The Outdoor Monument Views of the Târgu Jiu ensemble in situ, framed with varying degrees of sky and presence of nature, are set in conversation with Traiettorie by Marion Baruch (b. 1929), a Romanian-born artist working in Italy. Baruch’s fluid black lines, drawn from textile industry scraps, the “negative space” of production, establish a dialogue between space and memory. Both artists give form to the spiritual emptiness surrounding an object: Brâncuși’s lens carves his monuments into the sky; Baruch’s lines draw the void into presence.
Vintage photographs by Constantin Brâncuși, Courtesy of David Grob Gallery
Evariste Richer, Fundaluri, Courtesy of the artist
This exhibition was made possible by the support of MARe curatorial department, and MARe technical team, David Grob Gallery, London, Thaddaeus Ropac Gallery, London-Paris-Salzburg, Konrad Fischer Galerie, Düsseldorf-Berlin, Galerie Anne-Sarah Benichou, Paris, and Meessen Gallery, Brussels.
