Gabo’s Constructed Head No. 2 (1916; enlarged version 1966). Gabo’s ¿ rst
two constructed heads of 1915–1916 were made of small planes of wood or
metal. These were positioned at right angles to what would be the natural
surfaces of the head, revealing the interior as open, interpenetrating volumes
of space—small, separate spaces de¿ ned by the edges of planes. Cubism is
one source of this style, but it is Cubism opened up to admit space as an
equal partner with mass. Both the Cubists and the Constructivists spoke of
real time as an element in their art, and Gabo tried making some kinetic art
with moving parts but decided that it was distracting and that the movement
and the passage of time had to be supplied instead by the moving eye
scanning the art. Compare Brancusi’s Mlle. Pogany with Gabo’s Head. Note
the closed, idyllic quality of the Brancusi and the open, suave quality of
the Gabo.
Now make a three-way comparison among Rodin’s Man with Broken
Nose and the Brancusi and Gabo. We see three possibilities offered to the
20 th century:
- The Expressionist modeling of Rodin, including its distortions and
abstractions. - The idealized elegance of Brancusi, including its distortions and
abstractions. - The Constructivist mask of Gabo, including its Cubistic planes and its
peeling away of the natural surface to reveal the space within.
Each of these has been the inspiration for sculptors in the 20th century
and now in the 21st. They offer a wide range of stylistic approaches and
potential. It is interesting and important to realize that suddenly, as we
entered the 20th century, modern art seems to have spread rapidly across
Europe. A short time before, Paris was the center of the modern movement,
and Rodin had been part of that center. But Brancusi, although he moved to
Paris, was Romanian and Gabo was Russian, and Rodin himself became an
international art star. Ŷ