Madamoiselle Pogany 1913

Constantin Brâncuși made this striking portrait, Mademoiselle Pogany, in bronze. The highly polished surface is really seductive. It feels almost liquid, like you could dive right in. Look at the way the light catches the cheek. It’s so smooth, so refined, but then you notice the dark, almost crude hair, and the roughly hewn base, and suddenly you’re aware of the process, the artist’s hand at work. It's a reminder that even the most polished surfaces begin somewhere rough, and that beauty can be found in unexpected places. The face is so simplified that it’s almost abstract. You could compare it to the work of Modigliani, maybe. Both artists are interested in a similar kind of elongated form and elegant line. But Brâncuși is doing something else, he’s exploring the tension between abstraction and figuration. He makes you work.