The Artist and His Studio: inside Constantin Brancusi’s creative world

The Museum of Modern Art in New York opens Brancusi: The Artist and His Studio on October 25th, 2026, showcasing rarely lent Brancusi sculptures, archival materials and personal objects. On view through February 27th, 2027, the exhibition examines the Paris studio where Constantin Brancusi spent more than four decades shaping a radical new sculptural language.

A studio becomes a work of art

Spanning MoMA’s sixth floor, the exhibition traces Brancusi’s practice through the studio he established at impasse Ronsin in 1916. He lived, worked and welcomed visitors there, arranging sculptures in carefully composed settings where pedestals, objects and spatial relationships were integral to each work.

Loans from the Atelier Brancusi at Paris’s Centre Pompidou, temporarily closed for renovation, join MoMA’s collection and other works. Furniture, carved bases, tools, photographs and films reveal the craftsmanship behind the sculptures and Brancusi’s meticulous approach to display.

Forms reduced to their essence

Highlights include Leda (1926), Bird in Space (1928) and Fish (1930), in which familiar subjects emerge as streamlined, expressive forms. Multiple versions of Mlle Pogany and The Kiss reveal how Brancusi revisited motifs across materials and configurations, balancing abstraction with recognition.

The exhibition traces the contrasts that define his work: rough-hewn bases against polished surfaces, handmade forms alongside machine-finished details, and organic curves against geometric precision. Drawing on his Romanian roots and Paris’s cosmopolitan art scene, Brancusi forged a modern language grounded in traditional craft.

The artist behind the image

Photography and film offer insight into Brancusi’s process. Dissatisfied with others’ photographs of his sculptures, he documented them himself, capturing how arrangements in his studio evolved over time and how changing compositions altered the relationships between works.

Pairing Constantin Brancusi sculptures with objects and records of their making, MoMA offers an intimate view of his practice and its enduring influence on modern art exhibitions. Organised with exceptional support from Centre Pompidou, the exhibition is accompanied by an illustrated publication featuring more than 130 photographs taken by the artist.

Brancusi: The Artist and His Studio runs from October 25th, 2026 to February 27th, 2027 at The Museum of Modern Art, 11 West 53rd Street, New York.