30. Le Crocodile [1949]

The photos of the lot are informative and indicative, and cannot provide a highly detailed view of the object from all angles. We recommend a careful physical inspection of the lot before bidding.

30. Le Crocodile [1949]

Constantin Brâncuși

1876, Hobița, Gorj - 1957, Paris

Estimate:

EUR 3.000 - 5.000

Sold

EUR 3.000

References

Pontus Hulten; Dumitresco Natalia; Istrati Alexandre, "Brancusi", Flammarion Publishing House, Paris, 1986. The catalogue of the Artcurial auction "Fonds Constantin Brancusi provenant de la collection d’ Alexandre Istrati et Natalia Dumitresco", Paris, 2010.

lead, 9 x 14 cm, 9 Ã 14 cm

Research information

The object participated in the exhibition organised on the occasion of the Artcurial auction "Fonds Constantin Brancusi provenant de la collection dâ Alexandre Istrati et Natalia Dumitresco", Marcel Dassault Palace, Paris, November 27-30, 2010 and is listed in the auction catalogue at cat. 99, under the title "Crocodile" (Quatre formes). The object is reproduced in the monograph "Brancusi", Pontus Hulten; Natalia Dumitresco; Alexandre Istrati, Flammarion Publishing House, Paris, 1986, at p. 320.

PROVENANCE

BrÃ¢ncuÈi Fund from the Alexandru Istrati and Natalia Dumitrescu collection.

Well known for the goodwill shown to all the artists who crossed his threshold, Constantin Brâncuși would embrace the latter - Alexandru Istrati (1915-1991) and Natalia Dumitrescu (1915-1997) - with a parental love, having to establish them on April 12, 1956 as his universal legatees. Arrived in Paris in 1947, on the occasion of a scholarship offered by the French government, the Istrati couple were to be introduced to Brâncuși by a mutual friend, the sculptor George Teodorescu (1915-1952), the neighbour of the master from Impasse Ronsin. In a few months, the two artists will become both co-workers and confidants of the master, who would propose them a year later to stay with him, in the workshop that Brâncuși himself will take care to restore it, using some of his special manual skills. Throughout his life, Brâncuși created the furniture, utensils, tools, and the objects he needed and which, together with his sculptures, made up his creative environment. He did the same for his friends and acquaintances, thus managing to have a continuous connection between his work as a sculptor and the setting of his life. (G.M.)

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