One of
the outstanding sculptors of the 20th c, born
in Rumania and trained initially as a carpenter
and stonemason. He studied sculpture at
Bucharest (1898-1902) and in 1904 settled in
Paris for life. Here he soon shared the
interest, common among Parisian artists, in
African and other primitive arts, but the most
absorbing influence on him was his native folk
art and oriental art. Primarily a carver of wood
and stone, he worked towards expressive strength
through formal simplification, and The Kiss
(1908) is in some ways a sculptural counterpart
to Picasso's Demoiselles D'Avigtwn of 1907. But,
unlike Picasso, B. always retained in his
carvings something of the mystic symbolism of
non-European mainstream art. Le Nouveau-Ne
(1915) and Le Commencement du monde (1924) are
universal symbols of life and fertility — simple
but never symmetrical or geometrical. His
Lndless Column (1937—8) is a turning point in
20th-c. sculpture: B.'s influence on it is
two-told. He brought about a revival of carving
and had a craftsmanlike respect for the nature
of his materials; his last years were devoted to
polishing the surface of earlier works, e.g.
Fish (1940s). Secondly, be endowed sculpture
with an almost sacred significance: his carvings
are objects for contemplation. 'B.'s mission was
to make us shape-conscious' (Henry Moore).
The
Muse
1912
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