Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Study for the sculpture "The First Step"
Constantin Brancusi French, born Romania
Not on view
Brancusi made his most obvious reference to African art in his first wood sculpture, The First Step (1913). Shortly after exhibiting the work at 291 in March 1914, Brancusi partly destroyed it, perhaps finding its quotation of African aesthetics too immediate. Luckily, the sculpture remains known through the many studies that preceded its creation, among them this lucid 1913 wax-crayon study included in the exhibition. Stieglitz’s photographs of the Brancusi installation at 291 also document the lost sculpture. When comparing these installation shots with those of "Statuary in Wood by African Savages," the central placement of both the Fang reliquary figure also on view in the exhibition and The First Step bring to light strong similarities.
