More than one art critic of the 1930s traced the true origins of modern sculpture to Constantin Brancusi’s abstraction of the human figure and his revival of the technique of directly carving wood and stone.
This argument was often supported by comparing photographic reproductions of his works with images of prehistoric monuments and African art.
Taking Brancusi’s portraits of Eileen Lane and Nancy Cunard as a starting point, this lecture examines the extent to which his choice of subjects and his experimentation with serial and modular forms challenge this art-historical reception—and the role it has played in shaping our understanding of the historical significance of his art.
Megan R. Luke is a university professor and holds the Chair of Modern and Contemporary Art History at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen. She has published numerous works on abstraction, collage, modern sculpture, and reproduction media.
Her books include *Frank Stella, 1958* (Yale, 2006), *Kurt Schwitters: Space, Image, Exile* (Chicago, 2014), and *Photography and Sculpture: The Art Object in Reproduction* (Getty, 2017).
Admission to all events in the accompanying program is free, subject to available seating at the venue.
The program of events is supported by the Romanian Cultural Institute, represented by its Berlin branch, the Romanian Cultural Institute “Titu Maiorescu” Berlin.
The lectures are part of the *Brancusi* exhibition at the Neue Nationalgalerie, Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz. The exhibition was realized in collaboration with the Centre Pompidou and made possible by the FREUNDE der Nationalgalerie.
The lecture will be held in English.
Additional information
Dates
May 2026
| Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa | Su |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
|
2
|
3
| ||||
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
10
|
11
|
12
|
13
|
14
|
15
|
16
|
17
|
18
|
19
|
20
|
21
|
22
|
23
|
24
|
25
|
26
|
27
|
28
|
29
|
30
|
31
|
