Brancusi's Studio at MoMA Left Me Cold

The Brancusi show at the MoMA was one I was hotly looking forward to seeing. However, it left me feeling cold.  As an admirer of his smooth, minimalist sculpture and textured, tall totems, I was intrigued to learn something about the artist's creative process which I thought could be gleaned the MoMA show -  Brancusi The Artist an His Studio. The show focused on Brancusi's studio on impasse Ronsin in Paris . The artist bequeathed his studio along with the artworks  therein to France in 1957. The show does include numerous iconic sculptures along with his tools, sketches and videos. The rough sketches are to the right as you walk into the first gallery. It was interesting to note these rough drawings are similar to scribble drawings one may have drawn as a youngster. From this simple skethces you can decipher images that are seen in some of Brancusi's famous sculptures. Several large sculptures are displayed in the center of the first gallery showing some nascent scribbles that became morphed into his body of work. In the second gallery are some large scale totems with the repetitive diamond shape Brancusi often incorporated into his mottled textured works opposed to his sleek oval or curved shaped figures. I drew similarities between Modigliani's thin faced portraits to Brancusi's facial forms with mere hints of eyes or mouths on the head forms. There is a very humorous rough granite sculpture of two stout figures locked in an embrace in  that seems somewhat out of step with oeuvre.  His gold, kissing fish sculpture felt whimsical and reminded me of Koons' balloon sculptures. And, the video of Brancusi himself called to mind the image of a crazed Ernest Hemingway. Aside from my personal parallel posturing, I felt the show to be lackluster. The focus on Brancusi's studio didn't contain any full-scale facsimile which was called for.  Overall the exhibit lacked color, essential information such as whether photos on display were taken by the artist himself. The videos showing female guests he hosted were insignificant. The huge showcase housing a multitude of Brancusi's tools was dull! His choice of materials, influences and even interests (other than cooking or entertaining) would have given the poorly curated show needed texture. I walked through the exhibit a second time to admire the sculptures without considering anything but the work themselves. His art speaks volumes for itself. The rest is a waste of space (and your time.)