Torso of a Young Girl 1922

Constantin Brâncuși made this ‘Torso of a Young Girl’ out of marble, and I think you can really see it as a process of reduction. The surface here is so smooth. The stone looks almost soft. Those breasts and arms are so gently curved, like a river stone worn down by water. You want to touch it, right? But it’s more than just seductive. It’s like Brâncuși is trying to get to the very essence of form. It makes me think of Henry Moore, another sculptor obsessed with the body. But where Moore is all about volume and mass, Brâncuși is after something more ethereal. He wants to capture the feeling of being alive, of being young, in a way that’s both simple and profound. You can almost see the girl breathing, even though she’s just a stone.