Brancusi's "Endless Column" in Mr. Steichen's Garden, Voulangis, France

Edward J. Steichen

ca. 1922 · Gelatin silver print · Photographs

Steichen and the sculptor Constantin Brancusi first met at Auguste Rodin’s studio in 1907. The two artists remained close friends, and in 1920 Brancusi created a special twenty-four-foot-high version of his sculpture Endless Column for the garden of Steichen’s villa outside of Paris. Carved from a tree felled on the grounds of the villa, the artwork was integrally tied to its setting and realized Brancusi’s unflagging ambition to have his work sited out of doors. The day the sculpture was installed, Steichen made this photograph of a group of five workmen erecting the column, supervised by Brancusi, who stands at the left in a pair of wooden Dutch clogs.

Artist

Edward J. Steichen

Date

ca. 1922

Medium

Gelatin silver print

Department

Photographs

Credit line

Purchase, Alfred Stieglitz Society Gifts, 2015