Bust and Head
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Sculpture Sculpture by painters The Woman Italy Italian sculpture Modigliani Giacometti Picasso 1907-1931 Russia and Eastern Europe Brancusi
Chronology : 1910-1919 1910 1911 1913 1930-1939 1932 1955 1965
See also : Sculpture Sculpture by painters The Woman Italy Italian sculpture Modigliani Giacometti Picasso 1907-1931 Russia and Eastern Europe Brancusi
Chronology : 1910-1919 1910 1911 1913 1930-1939 1932 1955 1965
masterpiece
1345 BCE Nefertiti Bust
Neues Museum Berlin
Discovered in 1912.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Quote :
Ancient Egypt @Ancient_Egypt_X Aug 18
Bust of queen Nefertiti in the Neues Museum, Berlin #ancientegypt
The Bust of Nefertiti, created around 1340–1345 BCE during Egypt's 18th Dynasty (Amarna Period), stands as one of the most iconic works in art history. Crafted by the royal sculptor Thutmose from a limestone core coated in painted stucco, it depicts Queen Nefertiti—wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten—with extraordinary realism and preservation of its vibrant colors.
Its legacy in art history is profound and multifaceted:
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Quote :
Ancient Egypt @Ancient_Egypt_X Aug 18
Bust of queen Nefertiti in the Neues Museum, Berlin #ancientegypt
- The bust of Nefertiti, showcased in the Neues Museum in Berlin, was discovered in 1912 by German archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt in Amarna, Egypt, and its striking preservation suggests it may have been a sculptor’s model rather than a finished public piece, challenging the narrative of it being a royal portrait.
- Recent studies, including pigment analysis from the 1920s by Borchardt and modern non-invasive techniques, confirm the use of authentic ancient materials like copper-based blue frit and iron oxide, countering claims of it being a fake, though debates persist due to the missing left eye and its idealized features.
- The artifact’s location in Berlin fuels an ongoing repatriation debate, with Egypt arguing it was illegally exported, supported by a 2016 study from the University of Tübingen highlighting unequal colonial-era excavation agreements, yet Germany maintains it was legally acquired under 1913 permits.
The Bust of Nefertiti, created around 1340–1345 BCE during Egypt's 18th Dynasty (Amarna Period), stands as one of the most iconic works in art history. Crafted by the royal sculptor Thutmose from a limestone core coated in painted stucco, it depicts Queen Nefertiti—wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten—with extraordinary realism and preservation of its vibrant colors.
Its legacy in art history is profound and multifaceted:
- Masterpiece of ancient Egyptian realism — Unlike much of traditional Egyptian art, which favored idealized, symbolic forms, the bust blends stylized perfection (near-mirror symmetry, serene composure) with lifelike individuality. Features like the long "swan-like" neck, high cheekbones, chiseled jawline, kohl-rimmed eyes, and subtle smile capture a specific person rather than a generic ideal. The preserved pigments (Egyptian blue, red ochre, black from coal and wax, white chalk) give it an unparalleled vividness, making it feel strikingly modern even after over 3,300 years.m
- Icon of timeless beauty — Often called "the most beautiful woman in the world," Nefertiti's image has become a universal symbol of feminine elegance and power. Discovered in 1912 in Thutmose's workshop at Amarna by German archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt, it went on public display in Berlin in 1924 and instantly captivated global audiences.
- Influence across eras — The bust ranks among the most copied and reproduced works from ancient Egypt, comparable only to Tutankhamun's mask. It has inspired fashion, cosmetics, contemporary art (e.g., reimaginings addressing race, gender, and power), beauty products (from makeup lines to the "Nefertiti Lift" procedure), and pop culture items worldwide. Artists and designers continue to draw from its confident gaze and poised features.
- Broader cultural and political significance — Housed at Berlin's Neues Museum since its postwar reopening, it symbolizes both ancient Egyptian artistic achievement and the legacies of colonialism—sparking ongoing debates about repatriation to Egypt. As of 2026, despite renewed calls (especially tied to Egypt's Grand Egyptian Museum developments), Germany maintains its legal acquisition and keeps it in Berlin.
masterpiece
1325 BCE Funerary Mask of Tutankhamun
Cairo Museum
Discovered in 1925.
The image is shared by Wikimedia with attribution Roland Unger, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.
The image is shared by Wikimedia with attribution Roland Unger, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.
PICASSO
1910-1939 Tête de Femme (Fernande)
During his summer of 1909 at Horta, Picasso made eight paintings and several drawings of his accompanying muse Fernande. In his search for a new artistic language that would supersede the reality by the emotion, he bored the 28 year old model.
Back in Paris and ever desiring to experiment techniques, he conceives a Cubist form of bust sculpture based on Fernande's features including her styled hair over the head. The clay is modeled so that the figure is going abstract from some angles of view.
Vollard acquires that clay in 1910 and creates a plaster from which he will have bronzes cast on request from customers up to his death in 1939 for an overall total of about 20 units. The foundry is rarely identified.
Tête de Femme (Fernande) (also known as Head of a Woman (Fernande) or Woman's Head (Fernande)) is a seminal 1909 sculpture by Pablo Picasso, widely regarded as his first major Cubist sculpture and a breakthrough in translating the fragmented, multi-perspective forms of Analytic Cubism into three dimensions.
Intention, Inspiration, and Iterations
Picasso created the work in the autumn of 1909 in Paris, shortly after spending the summer with his partner and muse Fernande Olivier in Horta de Ebro (now Horta de Sant Joan), Spain. That summer profoundly influenced his Cubist development through the village's angular architecture, rocky landscapes, and shifting light, which inspired faceted planes and simultaneous viewpoints in his paintings (e.g., Houses on the Hill, Horta de Ebro).
Fernande Olivier (born Amélie Lang) was Picasso's lover and primary model from around 1904–1912. She inspired dozens of works in 1909 alone (over 60 portraits/drawings/sculptures). The sculpture captures her distinctive features—high cheekbones, almond eyes, strong nose, and elegant neck—but abstracts them into geometric, faceted forms with sharp edges, recesses, and protruding planes that suggest volume, movement, and multiple angles. The head tilts dynamically, with light and shadow animating the surface.
Process and iterations: Picasso modeled the original directly in clay, building up mass and carving away material in a dynamic, additive-subtractive process that preserved tension and energy in the final form. He refined it further in plaster (sharpening edges and facets while damp). There were multiple plasters: one early (now on long-term loan to Tate, London) and a second (Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, post-1960 from a mold of the first). These served as models for bronzes.
This marked a breakthrough: Picasso's first significant sculpture since earlier, more traditional or experimental works (e.g., 1905–1906 heads). It synthesized his pictorial Cubist experiments into 3D, emphasizing structure, mass, and perceptual shift over literal resemblance—paving the way for his later sculptural innovations.
History in Clay and Bronze
The work gained early prominence: Alfred Stieglitz acquired and published a cast in Camera Work (1912); exhibited at the 1913 Armory Show; shown in Prague (1913); and widely illustrated/praised in early monographs.
Estimating Casting Dates of Vollard Examples
Vollard casts lack consistent numbering or foundry marks that precisely date them, making estimation challenging. Key methods include:
Legacy
This sculpture solidified Picasso's sculptural reputation and helped establish Cubism's 3D language. It influenced 20th-century sculpture by prioritizing conceptual structure, light/shadow interplay, and viewer engagement over traditional modeling. It remains a cornerstone of Cubist collections, frequently exhibited and studied as a bridge between Picasso's painting and later bronzes/assemblages.
Comparison and Dating of the Two Christie's Lots (see below)
Both are signed Vollard-era bronze casts with dark brown patina of the 1909 conception (Tête de femme (Fernande)). They are high-quality examples from the primary series.
These pieces exemplify Picasso's Cubist revolution in sculpture and remain highly sought-after. For precise authentication/dating of specific casts, consult a specialist with access to technical reports or the Spies catalogue raisonné.
Back in Paris and ever desiring to experiment techniques, he conceives a Cubist form of bust sculpture based on Fernande's features including her styled hair over the head. The clay is modeled so that the figure is going abstract from some angles of view.
Vollard acquires that clay in 1910 and creates a plaster from which he will have bronzes cast on request from customers up to his death in 1939 for an overall total of about 20 units. The foundry is rarely identified.
Tête de Femme (Fernande) (also known as Head of a Woman (Fernande) or Woman's Head (Fernande)) is a seminal 1909 sculpture by Pablo Picasso, widely regarded as his first major Cubist sculpture and a breakthrough in translating the fragmented, multi-perspective forms of Analytic Cubism into three dimensions.
Intention, Inspiration, and Iterations
Picasso created the work in the autumn of 1909 in Paris, shortly after spending the summer with his partner and muse Fernande Olivier in Horta de Ebro (now Horta de Sant Joan), Spain. That summer profoundly influenced his Cubist development through the village's angular architecture, rocky landscapes, and shifting light, which inspired faceted planes and simultaneous viewpoints in his paintings (e.g., Houses on the Hill, Horta de Ebro).
Fernande Olivier (born Amélie Lang) was Picasso's lover and primary model from around 1904–1912. She inspired dozens of works in 1909 alone (over 60 portraits/drawings/sculptures). The sculpture captures her distinctive features—high cheekbones, almond eyes, strong nose, and elegant neck—but abstracts them into geometric, faceted forms with sharp edges, recesses, and protruding planes that suggest volume, movement, and multiple angles. The head tilts dynamically, with light and shadow animating the surface.
Process and iterations: Picasso modeled the original directly in clay, building up mass and carving away material in a dynamic, additive-subtractive process that preserved tension and energy in the final form. He refined it further in plaster (sharpening edges and facets while damp). There were multiple plasters: one early (now on long-term loan to Tate, London) and a second (Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, post-1960 from a mold of the first). These served as models for bronzes.
This marked a breakthrough: Picasso's first significant sculpture since earlier, more traditional or experimental works (e.g., 1905–1906 heads). It synthesized his pictorial Cubist experiments into 3D, emphasizing structure, mass, and perceptual shift over literal resemblance—paving the way for his later sculptural innovations.
History in Clay and Bronze
- Clay original (1909): Acquired by dealer Ambroise Vollard in 1910 (or possibly 1909–1910), who recognized its importance and arranged casting.
- Bronze casts: Vollard commissioned casts (primarily lost-wax process) at foundries like Désiré/Florentin Godard in Paris. No strict limited edition or numbering initially; casts were produced on demand/as needed, likely starting around 1910–1911 but with many post-WWI (into the 1920s–1930s, up to Vollard's death in 1939). Roughly 20 known Vollard-era casts exist, mostly in museums (e.g., MoMA, Met, Art Institute of Chicago, National Gallery Prague, etc.).
The work gained early prominence: Alfred Stieglitz acquired and published a cast in Camera Work (1912); exhibited at the 1913 Armory Show; shown in Prague (1913); and widely illustrated/praised in early monographs.
Estimating Casting Dates of Vollard Examples
Vollard casts lack consistent numbering or foundry marks that precisely date them, making estimation challenging. Key methods include:
- Provenance and ownership history: Early documented owners (e.g., Stieglitz ~1912, or pre-WWI collections) point to earlier casts (c. 1910–1912). Post-WWI acquisitions suggest later ones.
- Patina and surface quality: Early casts often show richer, more varied dark brown patinas from Godard foundries; compare to documented examples.
- Technical analysis: Foundry marks (if present), casting seams, or underside details. Collaborative studies (e.g., 2016 technical research on plasters/casts) compare to the Tate/Nasher plasters. Vollard casts used the early plaster model.
- Literature and exhibition records: Cross-reference with early photos/illustrations (e.g., Camera Work 1912) or catalogs like Spies (1971) or Fletcher's technical essay.
- Dimensions and minor variations: Slight differences in height/finish (e.g., one Christie's lot ~41.9 cm, another ~40.8 cm) may hint at casting nuances, though not definitive.
Legacy
This sculpture solidified Picasso's sculptural reputation and helped establish Cubism's 3D language. It influenced 20th-century sculpture by prioritizing conceptual structure, light/shadow interplay, and viewer engagement over traditional modeling. It remains a cornerstone of Cubist collections, frequently exhibited and studied as a bridge between Picasso's painting and later bronzes/assemblages.
Comparison and Dating of the Two Christie's Lots (see below)
Both are signed Vollard-era bronze casts with dark brown patina of the 1909 conception (Tête de femme (Fernande)). They are high-quality examples from the primary series.
- Lot 6368780 (Met deaccession, sold 2022): Height 16 1/2 in. (41.9 cm). Provenance: Possibly Vollard → Kaeser → Buchholz/Valentin → Marx/Schoenborn → Met (bequest 1995). Extensively published; strong early associations. Likely an earlier or mid-period Vollard cast (possibly 1910s–1920s), given the provenance chain reaching back potentially to the 1940s/1950s acquisitions.
- Lot 6585083 (Newhouse collection): Height 16 1/8 in. (40.8 cm). Provenance: Probably Vollard → René & Jeanne Gaffé (by 1960) → their estate sale (Christie's 2001) → private → Newhouse. Also extensively published. Slight size variation is minor/common in hand casts. Likely comparable period to the other (Vollard-era, pre-1939), with documented mid-20th-century ownership.
These pieces exemplify Picasso's Cubist revolution in sculpture and remain highly sought-after. For precise authentication/dating of specific casts, consult a specialist with access to technical reports or the Spies catalogue raisonné.
ex Met Museum
2022 SOLD for $ 48.5M by Christie's
A 41.9 cm high bronze with dark brown patina is de-accessioned by the Met Museum which had another example gifted in 2021 by Leonard Lauder. It was sold for $ 48.5M by Christie's on May 12, 2022, lot 16C.
ex Newhouse
2026 SOLD for $ 48M by Christie's
A 40.8 cm high bronze with dark brown patina was sold for $ 48M against a lower estimate of $ 40M by Christie's on May 18, 2026, lot 2A.
Tête by MODIGLIANI
Amedeo Modigliani is a young Italian immigrant who is learning the tendencies of modern art in Paris at the Bateau-Lavoir. From his meeting with Brancusi he discovers the sculpture in direct carving, perfectly suited to his skills : Modi operates quickly and without rework.
Brancusi is one of the greatest innovators of sculpture. Reacting against the realistic details of clay and bronze, he is the first to seek beauty through basic and simplified forms that will lead him up to abstraction.
Modigliani is easily convinced by Brancusi that the direct stone carving may bring an utmost purity to art. Opposed to Rodin's realism, the two artists are attempting a conceptual art that their detractors include in the Cubism still highly disputed at that time.
From 1909 to 1914 Modigliani is obsessed with a unique project : to build a temple dedicated to feminine beauty. To provide a roof for his monument, he tirelessly draws figures of cariatides which he calls his columns of tenderness.
Brancusi and Modigliani find inspiration for their new styles in the antique and African arts. In 1910, Modi draws women topped with a tablette in reference to the Caryatids of the Erechtheion.
Around 1911 he finally exerts his indisputable skills for sculpture in a series of limestone and sandstone women's heads. These elongated heads with a long neck on a cubic base are similar to each other but details of the faces are different. His series of busts made in 1911 and 1912 will prepare his temple of art. The varied heights show that its overall design is far from fixed.
Art critics have searched for models and styles that have inspired the timeless beauty of Modigliani's women's heads. They are indeed a synthesis of all ages and all civilizations. They are simple as the Cycladic idols, noble as queens of Egypt, Mannerist as a Botticelli, mysterious as African masks, serene as deities, geometric like the art of his friend Brancusi. They are designed to be viewed as a group, such as the Cariatides of a Greek temple.
Modi is not yet famous. He uses limestone blocks taken from construction sites and carries them in a wheelbarrow to his modest studio in Montparnasse. His heads of women create around him a crowd of pure and stylized faces with the intense force of a tribal ceremony.
He carved about 25 heads. In 1911 five of them are recognizable by photography in his solo exhibition organized with the help of Brancusi in the vast workshop of Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso. In 1912 the Salon d'Automne aligns seven heads in the Cubist Hall. Only the artist in his small studio in Montparnasse, or some friends at an exhibition in 1911 or 1912, could breathe the mystical atmosphere of the whole.
In 1913 Modigliani feels that his project of temple is ready. He chooses to use marble and visits Carrara. He carved only one caryatid. His fragile health will not allow him to do more. He abandons his great project and becomes a portrait painter again. The bust heads were dispersed.
Modigliani carved the stone in direct cut. In 1914 he had to give up his vocation as a sculptor for reasons of health and money. His brush was as skilled as his chisel to express the purity of the curves, and he became the best portrait painter of Montparnasse.
Brancusi is one of the greatest innovators of sculpture. Reacting against the realistic details of clay and bronze, he is the first to seek beauty through basic and simplified forms that will lead him up to abstraction.
Modigliani is easily convinced by Brancusi that the direct stone carving may bring an utmost purity to art. Opposed to Rodin's realism, the two artists are attempting a conceptual art that their detractors include in the Cubism still highly disputed at that time.
From 1909 to 1914 Modigliani is obsessed with a unique project : to build a temple dedicated to feminine beauty. To provide a roof for his monument, he tirelessly draws figures of cariatides which he calls his columns of tenderness.
Brancusi and Modigliani find inspiration for their new styles in the antique and African arts. In 1910, Modi draws women topped with a tablette in reference to the Caryatids of the Erechtheion.
Around 1911 he finally exerts his indisputable skills for sculpture in a series of limestone and sandstone women's heads. These elongated heads with a long neck on a cubic base are similar to each other but details of the faces are different. His series of busts made in 1911 and 1912 will prepare his temple of art. The varied heights show that its overall design is far from fixed.
Art critics have searched for models and styles that have inspired the timeless beauty of Modigliani's women's heads. They are indeed a synthesis of all ages and all civilizations. They are simple as the Cycladic idols, noble as queens of Egypt, Mannerist as a Botticelli, mysterious as African masks, serene as deities, geometric like the art of his friend Brancusi. They are designed to be viewed as a group, such as the Cariatides of a Greek temple.
Modi is not yet famous. He uses limestone blocks taken from construction sites and carries them in a wheelbarrow to his modest studio in Montparnasse. His heads of women create around him a crowd of pure and stylized faces with the intense force of a tribal ceremony.
He carved about 25 heads. In 1911 five of them are recognizable by photography in his solo exhibition organized with the help of Brancusi in the vast workshop of Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso. In 1912 the Salon d'Automne aligns seven heads in the Cubist Hall. Only the artist in his small studio in Montparnasse, or some friends at an exhibition in 1911 or 1912, could breathe the mystical atmosphere of the whole.
In 1913 Modigliani feels that his project of temple is ready. He chooses to use marble and visits Carrara. He carved only one caryatid. His fragile health will not allow him to do more. He abandons his great project and becomes a portrait painter again. The bust heads were dispersed.
Modigliani carved the stone in direct cut. In 1914 he had to give up his vocation as a sculptor for reasons of health and money. His brush was as skilled as his chisel to express the purity of the curves, and he became the best portrait painter of Montparnasse.
1911-1912
2014 SOLD for $ 71M by Sotheby's
On November 4, 2014, Sotheby's sold for $ 71M from an estimate in excess of $ 45M a bust 73 cm high including the base, lot 8. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. This specimen had been exhibited at the Salon d'Automne.
Grok thought from an ArtHitParade tweet :
Grok thought from an ArtHitParade tweet :
- This 2014 X post previews a rare limestone sculpture, "Tête" (Head of a Woman, 1911-1912) by Amedeo Modigliani, for Sotheby's New York sale on November 4, featuring an image of the elongated, archaic-inspired head that exemplifies his short-lived sculptural period.
- The work, one of fewer than 30 surviving Modigliani sculptures, fetched $70.7 million—exceeding its $45 million estimate and setting a then-record for his three-dimensional output—amid a blockbuster evening sale totaling over $365 million.
- @ArtHitParade 's focus on auction milestones underscores Modigliani's market dominance, with his sculptures prized for their African-influenced forms and scarcity, as most were destroyed in a 1917 heatwave to pay his debts.
1911
2010 SOLD for € 43M by Christie's
One of these statues, made of Parisian limestone, 64 cm high including the cubic base, was sold for € 43M from a lower estimate of € 4M by Christie's on June 14, 2010. It is shared in an article in French by Le Figaro. This specimen had been exhibited by Souza-Cardoso and at the Salon d'Automne.
A 51 cm high Tête carved in limestone around 1911-1912 with no early exhibition history was sold for $ 34M by Christie's on May 13, 2019, lot 31A.
A 51 cm high Tête carved in limestone around 1911-1912 with no early exhibition history was sold for $ 34M by Christie's on May 13, 2019, lot 31A.
BRANCUSI
1913 Danaïde
2026 SOLD for $ 108M by Christie's
Each human head is different from the others. Constantin Brancusi goes against the realistic tradition of sculpted portraiture : he seeks the essential characteristics for simplifying them to the extreme. As long as the model takes pleasure in recognizing herself, we may consider that the work is successful. He is too far ahead of his time : art critics and the public do not follow.
The baronne Frachon was his muse from 1908 to 1910. Brancusi then met Margit Pogany, a Hungarian student recognizable by her round head, bulging eyes, thick eyebrows and austere bun. He invites her to come and see his recent works in his studio in Montparnasse. She recognizes her own gaze in a face that was not hers.
Pogany agrees to pose for the artist in December 1910 and January 1911. Brancusi observes his visitor and then destroys his own clay sketches : a portrait taken from life is not his business. Pogany leaves Paris shortly after.
The artist begins in parallel two series of heads, which are added to the Muses inspired by Frachon. One of them, with bulging eyes, is titled Mlle Pogany. The other, titled Danaïde, shows an arcature of the eyes that reminds the pure geometry of the best African masks. For several decades, he produces variants from this catalog of heads. Danaïde, which is a reference to the fifty daughters of Danaos, is an incentive to create multiples.
The shape of the Danaids is summarized by a perfect ovoid head on which two arcs draw the eyebrows and the nose. We are halfway between the figurative and the abstraction. Figurative is still dominating due to the bun and neck applied to the head egg.
On May 7, 2002, Christie's sold a Danaïde for $ 18M, lot 27. This 28 cm high bronze was designed in 1913, cast by Valsuani with a dark brown patina, and the face has been leaf gilded. Six other bronzes are known, only one of which is gilded.
Sold for $ 108M by Christie's on May 18, 2026, lot 4A : Danaïde (1913). The video is shared by the auction house. Are they the same piece ? Are the other bronzes located ?
Yes, they are the same piece.
The Constantin Brancusi Danaïde (1913) heading to Christie's in May 2026 from the S.I. Newhouse collection is the exact bronze sold at Christie's on May 7, 2002 (Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale, lot 27). Newhouse purchased it then for approximately $18.16 million (including premium), which set a world auction record for the artist and for any sculpture at the time.
Key Matching Details
Brancusi produced a small edition of seven bronze casts of Danaïde (plus some marble versions in related head themes). Each cast is unique due to his hands-on finishing process, with variations in patina and surface treatment. Regarding gilding:
The baronne Frachon was his muse from 1908 to 1910. Brancusi then met Margit Pogany, a Hungarian student recognizable by her round head, bulging eyes, thick eyebrows and austere bun. He invites her to come and see his recent works in his studio in Montparnasse. She recognizes her own gaze in a face that was not hers.
Pogany agrees to pose for the artist in December 1910 and January 1911. Brancusi observes his visitor and then destroys his own clay sketches : a portrait taken from life is not his business. Pogany leaves Paris shortly after.
The artist begins in parallel two series of heads, which are added to the Muses inspired by Frachon. One of them, with bulging eyes, is titled Mlle Pogany. The other, titled Danaïde, shows an arcature of the eyes that reminds the pure geometry of the best African masks. For several decades, he produces variants from this catalog of heads. Danaïde, which is a reference to the fifty daughters of Danaos, is an incentive to create multiples.
The shape of the Danaids is summarized by a perfect ovoid head on which two arcs draw the eyebrows and the nose. We are halfway between the figurative and the abstraction. Figurative is still dominating due to the bun and neck applied to the head egg.
On May 7, 2002, Christie's sold a Danaïde for $ 18M, lot 27. This 28 cm high bronze was designed in 1913, cast by Valsuani with a dark brown patina, and the face has been leaf gilded. Six other bronzes are known, only one of which is gilded.
Sold for $ 108M by Christie's on May 18, 2026, lot 4A : Danaïde (1913). The video is shared by the auction house. Are they the same piece ? Are the other bronzes located ?
Yes, they are the same piece.
The Constantin Brancusi Danaïde (1913) heading to Christie's in May 2026 from the S.I. Newhouse collection is the exact bronze sold at Christie's on May 7, 2002 (Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale, lot 27). Newhouse purchased it then for approximately $18.16 million (including premium), which set a world auction record for the artist and for any sculpture at the time.
Key Matching Details
- Description: Bronze head (height ~28 cm / 11 in., excluding base), conceived circa 1913, cast shortly thereafter by Valsuani foundry. It features a dark brown patina with the face covered in gold leaf (gilded). This matches the 2002 lot description and the upcoming 2026 announcement exactly (bronze with gold leaf and dark brown patina).
- Provenance: Direct ownership link — Newhouse acquired it in 2002 and it has remained in his collection/estate since. Multiple recent reports (Artnet, Romania Insider, Observer, etc.) explicitly confirm this connection.
- Gilding note: Contemporary reports on the 2002 sale described it as having gold leaf on the face, consistent with the "gold-leaf-covered bronze head" language used for the 2026 lot.
Brancusi produced a small edition of seven bronze casts of Danaïde (plus some marble versions in related head themes). Each cast is unique due to his hands-on finishing process, with variations in patina and surface treatment. Regarding gilding:
- Sources vary slightly on exact counts, but reliable 2002 auction commentary (including from Christie's specialists and dealers like Eykyn Maclean) notes this was one of the gilded versions (often cited as one of three gilded, or with only limited gilding among the bronzes). The 2026 announcements describe it as a "rare gold-leaf-covered" example, aligning with its special surface treatment. Your note about "only one of which is gilded" among the other six reflects some older descriptions, but the consensus is that a small number (including this one) received gold leaf, with the rest in standard brown or polished patinas.
- Two gilded examples were already in museums: Centre Pompidou, Paris, and the National Museum of Art of Romania, Bucharest.
- Other known bronzes are held by institutions including:
- Philadelphia Museum of Art
- Tate Gallery, London (one version dated c.1918)
- Kunstverein Winterthur, Switzerland
- Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) Museum
1913 La Muse endormie
2017 SOLD for $ 57M by Christie's
The art of Brancusi is too fundamental, too seminal and too personal to be associated with any artistic movement. Very gifted in his hands since his childhood, this son of poor Carpathian peasants arrived in Paris on foot in 1904. The period is exceptional : the artistic Parisian bubbling opens the way to his creativity.
He learns with Rodin that the human figure can be reduced to a single element. A head lying on a ground symbolizes the serenity. He appreciates from Gauguin that Oceanic tribal art can influence the modern universal art through its extreme simplification of forms. The skilled bearded strongman chooses the direct cut contrary to the practice of his time. He will influence Modigliani.
Brancusi began in 1907 to conceive his series of masterpieces. In Le Baiser he is the first artist who suggests a development of Cubism in sculpture.
In 1909 he creates the prototype of La Muse endormie in white marble. The lying head is an egg in which the facial features and the hair are only lightly incised. The nape of the neck is used as a support. Despite the stylization it is unquestionably a portrait of his model the baronne Frachon. The artist succeeded in the impossible synthesis between geometry and portraiture.
In 1910 Brancusi produces three plasters and six bronzes from his first Muse endormie. The bronzes are cast by Valsuani but the patina different in each of the bronzes is executed by the artist himself with a painstaking care.
One of the six bronzes, 27 cm long, was sold for $ 57M from a lower estimate of $ 20M by Christie's on May 15, 2017, lot 32 A. This example cast by 1913 has an exceptional matte and warm patina enhanced in places with gold leaf which is perfectly suited to the illusion of serenity desired by the artist. Please watch the video shared by Christie's.
Grok thought :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc May 16, 2017
Brancusi's La muse endormie casted in 1913 realized $57,367,500 against its estimate of $25,000,000, a #worldauctionrecord for the artist
He learns with Rodin that the human figure can be reduced to a single element. A head lying on a ground symbolizes the serenity. He appreciates from Gauguin that Oceanic tribal art can influence the modern universal art through its extreme simplification of forms. The skilled bearded strongman chooses the direct cut contrary to the practice of his time. He will influence Modigliani.
Brancusi began in 1907 to conceive his series of masterpieces. In Le Baiser he is the first artist who suggests a development of Cubism in sculpture.
In 1909 he creates the prototype of La Muse endormie in white marble. The lying head is an egg in which the facial features and the hair are only lightly incised. The nape of the neck is used as a support. Despite the stylization it is unquestionably a portrait of his model the baronne Frachon. The artist succeeded in the impossible synthesis between geometry and portraiture.
In 1910 Brancusi produces three plasters and six bronzes from his first Muse endormie. The bronzes are cast by Valsuani but the patina different in each of the bronzes is executed by the artist himself with a painstaking care.
One of the six bronzes, 27 cm long, was sold for $ 57M from a lower estimate of $ 20M by Christie's on May 15, 2017, lot 32 A. This example cast by 1913 has an exceptional matte and warm patina enhanced in places with gold leaf which is perfectly suited to the illusion of serenity desired by the artist. Please watch the video shared by Christie's.
Grok thought :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc May 16, 2017
Brancusi's La muse endormie casted in 1913 realized $57,367,500 against its estimate of $25,000,000, a #worldauctionrecord for the artist
- Christie's post announces the record-breaking $57.4 million sale of Constantin Brâncuși's 1913 bronze "La Muse Endormie," a patinated oval head depicting a sleeping muse, which doubled its $25-35 million estimate during the May 15, 2017, Impressionist and Modern evening auction in New York.
- The sculpture's abstract, egg-like form represents Brâncuși's pioneering modernist style, reducing human features to smooth curves and planes, and its rarity at auction—most of his works reside in museums—drove intense bidding from five competitors over nine minutes.
- This transaction not only set a world auction record for Brâncuși but also highlighted the 2017 art market's strength, with the full sale totaling $289 million, signaling robust collector interest in early 20th-century European modernism amid global economic recovery.
1932 La Jeune Fille Sophistiquée
2018 SOLD for $ 71M by Christie's
Being a muse for Brancusi was not a difficult task. He had met Margit Pogany very briefly in 1910 but liked the shape of her head which inspired him until the mid-1920s.
The heads sculpted by Brancusi are not abstract. He considers that everything that overflows, mainly nose and ears, is inappropriate to express the deep reality of a portrait. He gradually reduces these growths to a surface carving up to removing them completely.
Around 1925 he made a wooden bust 55 cm high on the theme of La Jeune Fille Sophistiquée. He takes Nancy Cunard as a model, without telling her. The heiress of the Cunard shipowners, she has an eccentric life that symbolizes the roaring twenties in the Parisian literary and artistic circles. She is sexually liberated and anarchist, and her attires are inspired by Africa.
The almost abstract head is indeed a portrait. Comparing with the photos of the period, we recognize the bulging forehead and the receding chin, and the stiff neck from behind. This disturbing muse always offers in the photos an unpleasant pout that we imagine also through the rare incisions of the sculpture. The pinched bun is an evocation of her signature bunches.
Brancusi made a plaster in 1928 and a unique polished bronze in 1932. This bronze is still installed on the marble base designed by the artist, for a total height of 80 cm. It was sold for $ 71M by Christie's on May 15, 2018, lot 19 A. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Nancy Cunard discovered many years later that she had served as a model for this artwork. After hesitating in its interpretation as a bust or a torso, she expressed her admiration for the artist.
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New York Times Arts @nytimesarts May 16, 2018
A rare bronze by Constantin Brancusi topped the auction high for the artist as his polished portrait of the flamboyant shipping heiress Nancy Cunard reached $71 million at Christie's. https://nyti.ms/2rK5Nha
The heads sculpted by Brancusi are not abstract. He considers that everything that overflows, mainly nose and ears, is inappropriate to express the deep reality of a portrait. He gradually reduces these growths to a surface carving up to removing them completely.
Around 1925 he made a wooden bust 55 cm high on the theme of La Jeune Fille Sophistiquée. He takes Nancy Cunard as a model, without telling her. The heiress of the Cunard shipowners, she has an eccentric life that symbolizes the roaring twenties in the Parisian literary and artistic circles. She is sexually liberated and anarchist, and her attires are inspired by Africa.
The almost abstract head is indeed a portrait. Comparing with the photos of the period, we recognize the bulging forehead and the receding chin, and the stiff neck from behind. This disturbing muse always offers in the photos an unpleasant pout that we imagine also through the rare incisions of the sculpture. The pinched bun is an evocation of her signature bunches.
Brancusi made a plaster in 1928 and a unique polished bronze in 1932. This bronze is still installed on the marble base designed by the artist, for a total height of 80 cm. It was sold for $ 71M by Christie's on May 15, 2018, lot 19 A. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Nancy Cunard discovered many years later that she had served as a model for this artwork. After hesitating in its interpretation as a bust or a torso, she expressed her admiration for the artist.
Grok thought :
Quote
New York Times Arts @nytimesarts May 16, 2018
A rare bronze by Constantin Brancusi topped the auction high for the artist as his polished portrait of the flamboyant shipping heiress Nancy Cunard reached $71 million at Christie's. https://nyti.ms/2rK5Nha
- This 2018 New York Times Arts post announces the record $71 million auction sale of Constantin Brancusi's rare 1932 bronze sculpture "La Jeune Fille Sophistiquée (Portrait de Nancy Cunard)" at Christie's, surpassing the artist's prior high of $57 million.
- Brancusi, a Romanian modernist pioneer in Paris, abstracted the flamboyant heiress Nancy Cunard's features into a sleek, elongated form symbolizing her bohemian life as a writer, jazz patron, and anti-fascist activist.
- The unique cast, held in one collection for over 60 years, drew three bidders and remains Brancusi's top auction price as of 2025, underscoring sustained market interest in his innovative abstract portraits.
GIACOMETTI
1955 Grande Tête Mince
Starting in 1953 Alberto refocuses on the portraits of his family and friends his sculpted and painted art. He used to say that he did not make a difference between sculpture and drawing. He then takes as model only his family and close friends, especially his brother Diego younger than himself by only thirteen months. People outside his narrow circle would probably hardly support to be so scrutinized by this artist in search of a new ideal.
At the same time Alberto rediscovers his fascination for the famous bust of Nefertiti, breaking with the tradition of classical sculpture which had been a way to offer to the viewer a realistic three-dimensional vision of the selected theme.
The graphic art of ancient Egypt used a flat profile figuration by which the two sides of the head cannot be seen simultaneously. A bust of Diego on a base, 38 cm high overall, executed in 1954, is subtitled Amenophis. The head is a blade. On each side Alberto kneaded an Egyptian portrait of his brother. A bronze was sold by Sotheby's for £ 3.4M on June 24, 2009.
At 65 cm high overall, Grande Tête de Diego will remain until 1960 the largest bust created by Alberto. Like Amenophis, it was designed in 1954 and edited in bronze by Susse in 1955. The head is again limited to a blade but the view of each profile is as realistic as a drawing, with the frank gaze and the mouth opened for speaking.
That Grande Tête Mince is the most daring of all compositions by Alberto. Since the two sides of the face are not seen simultaneously, they can be dissimilar with the exception of the open mouth. Indeed the portrait of Nefertiti has no pupil in the left eye, probably from its conception. Alberto's face is more wrinkled than Diego's. The left side is undoubtedly a portrait of Diego. The right side, kneaded in clay with deeper relief, could be a self-portrait of Alberto.
The two brothers had a strong physical resemblance and there is no doubt that Alberto sought also to reach the truth about himself. He voluntarily maintained this ambiguity in an exhibition in 1962 when he chose to name this sculpture Grande tête mince rather than Grande tête de Diego.
At the same time Alberto rediscovers his fascination for the famous bust of Nefertiti, breaking with the tradition of classical sculpture which had been a way to offer to the viewer a realistic three-dimensional vision of the selected theme.
The graphic art of ancient Egypt used a flat profile figuration by which the two sides of the head cannot be seen simultaneously. A bust of Diego on a base, 38 cm high overall, executed in 1954, is subtitled Amenophis. The head is a blade. On each side Alberto kneaded an Egyptian portrait of his brother. A bronze was sold by Sotheby's for £ 3.4M on June 24, 2009.
At 65 cm high overall, Grande Tête de Diego will remain until 1960 the largest bust created by Alberto. Like Amenophis, it was designed in 1954 and edited in bronze by Susse in 1955. The head is again limited to a blade but the view of each profile is as realistic as a drawing, with the frank gaze and the mouth opened for speaking.
That Grande Tête Mince is the most daring of all compositions by Alberto. Since the two sides of the face are not seen simultaneously, they can be dissimilar with the exception of the open mouth. Indeed the portrait of Nefertiti has no pupil in the left eye, probably from its conception. Alberto's face is more wrinkled than Diego's. The left side is undoubtedly a portrait of Diego. The right side, kneaded in clay with deeper relief, could be a self-portrait of Alberto.
The two brothers had a strong physical resemblance and there is no doubt that Alberto sought also to reach the truth about himself. He voluntarily maintained this ambiguity in an exhibition in 1962 when he chose to name this sculpture Grande tête mince rather than Grande tête de Diego.
3/6
2010 SOLD for $ 53M by Christie's
The bronze 3/6 of the Grande Tête Mince, with a dark brown patina, was sold for $ 53M by Christie's on May 4, 2010, lot 13.
6/6
2013 SOLD for $ 50M by Sotheby's
The bronze 6/6 was sold for $ 50M from a lower estimate of $ 35M by Sotheby's on November 6, 2013, lot 15. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
1965 Le Nez
2021 SOLD for $ 78M by Sotheby's
In his post war nightmares and hallucinations, Alberto Giacometti lost the discrimination between the living and the dead. He is a sculptor : in 1947 he manages to immobilize this ambiguity in plasters. Fragmenting the human organs, he conceives Le Nez, La Main and Tête sur tige. Questioning the beyond in the same year, he creates his existentialist trinity led by L'Homme au doigt.
Le Nez is a full head hanging to a rope within a cage, so that it cannot be perceived as a mere bust. The threadlike posts and bars of the cage are similar as those conceived by him is the 1930s for staging Surrealist figures. Such an existentialist expression of human forms in a cage had a decisive influence on Francis Bacon.
The narwhal tooth shaped straight nose extends far beyond the volume of the cage, providing a fake liberty to the encaged figure. The mouth is wide open for a scream. The very first plaster also had a red painted tongue and a spiral red clown wrap around the nose.
There is no doubt that the fragile balance of Le Nez was very difficult to transfer to bronze. That was done in 1965 by Susse in an edition of 6 plus 2 additional proofs. The head is cast from a replica of the 1949 plaster while the cage had been narrowed in the previous year for a more protruding effect of the nose. The cage is 81 cm high. Small roundels under the four posts assure a stability to that fragile piece.
The number 6/6 was sold for $ 78M by Sotheby's on November 15, 2021, lot 14.
Le Nez (The Nose) was conceived in plaster in 1947 (with a revised version in 1949). It follows a different trajectory than L'Homme au Doigt : Giacometti reworked the composition multiple times over the years (altering the cage structure, suspension, and details), but he did not authorize bronze casting until around 1964–65. This delay aligns with his postwar practice for some works—keeping plasters in the studio for ongoing modification rather than immediate editioning—possibly reflecting his relentless pursuit of capturing perceptual "reality" and distance (a phenomenological concern tied to existential themes of alienation and the absurd). The bronze edition (typically 6 casts) was produced later, with examples in institutions like the Centre Pompidou (Paris) and private collections. Original and variant plasters remain with the Fondation Giacometti.
Grok thought :
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Sotheby's @Sothebys Nov 16, 2021
#AuctionUpdate: One of the artist’s most iconic sculptures, Alberto Giacometti’s ‘Le Nez’ brings $78.4M.
Le Nez is a full head hanging to a rope within a cage, so that it cannot be perceived as a mere bust. The threadlike posts and bars of the cage are similar as those conceived by him is the 1930s for staging Surrealist figures. Such an existentialist expression of human forms in a cage had a decisive influence on Francis Bacon.
The narwhal tooth shaped straight nose extends far beyond the volume of the cage, providing a fake liberty to the encaged figure. The mouth is wide open for a scream. The very first plaster also had a red painted tongue and a spiral red clown wrap around the nose.
There is no doubt that the fragile balance of Le Nez was very difficult to transfer to bronze. That was done in 1965 by Susse in an edition of 6 plus 2 additional proofs. The head is cast from a replica of the 1949 plaster while the cage had been narrowed in the previous year for a more protruding effect of the nose. The cage is 81 cm high. Small roundels under the four posts assure a stability to that fragile piece.
The number 6/6 was sold for $ 78M by Sotheby's on November 15, 2021, lot 14.
Le Nez (The Nose) was conceived in plaster in 1947 (with a revised version in 1949). It follows a different trajectory than L'Homme au Doigt : Giacometti reworked the composition multiple times over the years (altering the cage structure, suspension, and details), but he did not authorize bronze casting until around 1964–65. This delay aligns with his postwar practice for some works—keeping plasters in the studio for ongoing modification rather than immediate editioning—possibly reflecting his relentless pursuit of capturing perceptual "reality" and distance (a phenomenological concern tied to existential themes of alienation and the absurd). The bronze edition (typically 6 casts) was produced later, with examples in institutions like the Centre Pompidou (Paris) and private collections. Original and variant plasters remain with the Fondation Giacometti.
Grok thought :
Quote
Sotheby's @Sothebys Nov 16, 2021
#AuctionUpdate: One of the artist’s most iconic sculptures, Alberto Giacometti’s ‘Le Nez’ brings $78.4M.
- Sotheby's 2021 post announces the $78.4 million hammer price for Alberto Giacometti's 1947 bronze sculpture "Le Nez" (The Nose), a distorted, elongated head exemplifying his post-WWII existential themes, from the high-profile Macklowe Collection divorce sale.
- The buyer, cryptocurrency billionaire Justin Sun of Tron, outbid competitors in a heated auction, underscoring how digital fortunes fuel traditional art markets and Sun's pattern of high-profile acquisitions like Warhol works.
- By 2025, "Le Nez" sparked a public lawsuit when Sun accused entertainment mogul David Geffen of buying it via an unauthorized employee sale, revealing opaque art world dealings and ongoing litigation over ownership.
Existentialist meaning of Le Nez, conceived by Giacometti in plaster in 1947 and 1949.
Alberto Giacometti's Le Nez (The Nose), conceived in plaster in 1947 and revised in a key version in 1949 (later cast in bronze), is one of his most enigmatic postwar sculptures. It features a skeletal human head with hollow eyes, a gaping mouth, and an exaggeratedly long nose protruding horizontally, suspended within an open metal cage-like structure, where the nose piercingly extends beyond the frame.
This work emerged in the aftermath of World War II, a period when Giacometti, deeply affected by death and loss (including personal memories and the broader trauma of the war), grappled with human fragility and mortality. Researchers note that "Le Nez" carries the memory of recent deaths, reflecting the artist's haunting obsession with transience.
Existentialist Interpretations
Though Giacometti's friend Jean-Paul Sartre popularized an existentialist reading of his elongated, isolated figures as emblems of postwar alienation and the absurdity of existence (e.g., in Sartre's 1948 essay "The Search for the Absolute"), some critics argue this was somewhat imposed—Giacometti's despair stemmed more from the impossible quest to capture fleeting reality than pure philosophical romance.
Yet Le Nez powerfully evokes existential themes:
Ultimately, Le Nez embodies the human condition as isolated, anguished, and absurdly striving amid emptiness—a visual echo of existentialist concerns with authenticity, mortality, and the search for meaning in a postwar world stripped of illusions.
Alberto Giacometti's Le Nez (The Nose), conceived in plaster in 1947 and revised in a key version in 1949 (later cast in bronze), is one of his most enigmatic postwar sculptures. It features a skeletal human head with hollow eyes, a gaping mouth, and an exaggeratedly long nose protruding horizontally, suspended within an open metal cage-like structure, where the nose piercingly extends beyond the frame.
This work emerged in the aftermath of World War II, a period when Giacometti, deeply affected by death and loss (including personal memories and the broader trauma of the war), grappled with human fragility and mortality. Researchers note that "Le Nez" carries the memory of recent deaths, reflecting the artist's haunting obsession with transience.
Existentialist Interpretations
Though Giacometti's friend Jean-Paul Sartre popularized an existentialist reading of his elongated, isolated figures as emblems of postwar alienation and the absurdity of existence (e.g., in Sartre's 1948 essay "The Search for the Absolute"), some critics argue this was somewhat imposed—Giacometti's despair stemmed more from the impossible quest to capture fleeting reality than pure philosophical romance.
Yet Le Nez powerfully evokes existential themes:
- Isolation and confinement — The head trapped in its cage suggests entrapment in an indifferent void, mirroring existential notions of human solitude and freedom's burden.
- Fragility and the absurd — The grotesque, phallic nose (evoking Pinocchio's lies or surreal distortions) pierces boundaries aggressively yet futilely, symbolizing a desperate reach beyond limits into nothingness.
- Life-death tension — Inspired partly by Giacometti's 1946 text "The Dream, the Sphinx and the Death of T.," where faces become object-like and deathly, the sculpture hovers between presence and residue—being and non-being—with its skull-like features and suspended form implying a limbo state.
Ultimately, Le Nez embodies the human condition as isolated, anguished, and absurdly striving amid emptiness—a visual echo of existentialist concerns with authenticity, mortality, and the search for meaning in a postwar world stripped of illusions.
