The Kiss 1912

Constantin Brâncuși carved this version of The Kiss in stone, and it’s now in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Imagine him, chipping away, reducing forms to their barest essence. What was he thinking as he made it? I love the simplicity here; the way he manages to convey so much with so little. See how the two figures are fused together, their arms wrapped around each other in a tender embrace? The stone has a rough texture, and you can almost feel the weight of it, the permanence. I’m really drawn to the way the lines meet— the single eye they share. The raw, tactile quality reminds me of folk art, that’s the sort of vibe he’s channeling. I’m thinking of other artists preoccupied with similar things, like Paula Modersohn-Becker, with her earthy figures. It's like all of us artists are in conversation, riffing on the same themes, responding to each other across time. Painting, sculpture – it's all embodied expression, right? It's full of ambiguity, so there's space for so many different feelings.