Brancusi is spinning in his grave: Scandal over bizarre exhibit in New York

Constantin Brancusi, at the center of an art controversy in New York

Newsroom 21/01/2014 | 10:42

Five bronze casts from original plasters made by the late Romanian-born artist are on view this winter at the Paul Kasmin Gallery, a show that represents the first fruits of an agreement Mr. Kasmin recently struck with the Brancusi estate.

The New York dealer said he hopes to sell one or two such works a year, some for upward of $2.5 million each, according to the Wall-Street Journal.

The exhibit is shrouded in controversy since many voices in the art community are saying these works are not authentic. Brancusi never authorized the creation of additional art in his will, so critics say anything made after his death isn’t only a misunderstanding of the nature of his work but a tainted copy that threatens to undermine his legacy and market.

The five sculptures in the New York gallery were created legally with the estate’s approval, cast from plasters found in Brancusi’s studio and produced between 1992 and 2010 in the Susse foundry near Paris—the same foundry that has done work over the years for the estates of Joan Miró, Alberto Giacometti and Max Ernst.

Paul Kasmin added that the five pieces in his gallery are original multiples from Brancusi’s fastidious plasters.

Original Brancusi sculptures can sell for more than USD 25 mln at auction, and the gallery dealer hopes he can get roughly one third of the price for each of his five pieces.

The gallery exhibit, presented as a celebration of the artist’s legacy on the 100th anniversary of the Armory Show, doesn’t directly state in the wall text that the sculptures were created after Brancusi’s death. The production dates of the five pieces are noted in the smaller print checklist and in the exhibit catalog.

Though technically this isn’t a selling exhibition, Mr. Kasmin said four or five well-known Brancusi collectors already have shown interest and he hopes to start brokering deals soon.