''Princess X'' is a sculpture by the artist

Constantin Brâncuși Constantin Brâncuși (; February 19, 1876 – March 16, 1957) was a Romanian sculptor, painter, and photographer who made his career in France. Considered one of the most influential sculptors of the 20th century and a pioneer of modernism ...

depicting the

Princess Marie Bonaparte Princess Marie Bonaparte (2 July 1882 – 21 September 1962), known as Princess George of Greece and Denmark upon her marriage, was a French author and psychoanalyst, closely linked with Sigmund Freud. Her wealth contributed to the popularity ...

, a psychoanalyst in her own right and great supporter of Freud. An initial version in marble is now in the Sheldon Memorial Art Galleries at the

University of Nebraska A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

, whilst two versions as a polished bronze atop a

limestone block Limestone is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Limestone forms when these ...

stands tall (both created between 1915 and 1916) are now in the collections of the

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is an List of art museums#North America, art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at ...

and the

Musée national d'Art moderne The Musée National d'Art Moderne (; "National Museum of Modern Art") is the national museum for modern art of France. It is located in the 4th arrondissement of Paris and is housed in the Centre Pompidou. In 2021 it ranked 10th in the list of ...

in Paris. The work was originally part of a "notorious scandal" when the

Salon des Indépendants Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room A drawing room is a room in a house where visitors may be entertained, and an alternative name for a living room. The name i ...

removed ''Princess X'' from display for its apparent obscene content, after some objected to the sculpture's

phallic A phallus (: phalli or phalluses) is a penis (especially when erect), an object that resembles a penis, or a mimetic image of an erect penis. In art history, a figure with an erect penis is described as ''ithyphallic''. Any object that symbo ...

resemblance. Brâncuși was reportedly shocked and declared the incident a misunderstanding; he had created ''Princess X'' to evoke feminine desire and vanity.

Scandal in Paris

Brâncuși insisted the sculpture had been his rendition of Marie Bonaparte and discussed the comparison of the bronze figure to the princess. He described his detestation of Marie, as a "vain woman." He claimed she went as far as placing a hand mirror on the table at mealtimes, so she could gaze upon herself. The sculpture's C-like form reveals a woman looking over and gazing down, as if looking into an object. The large anchors of the sculpture resemble the "beautiful bust" which she possessed. Without knowing the context, to a viewer Princess X could look like an erect penis. Brâncuși allows the princess to gaze upon herself in an eternal loop locked in the bronze sculpture. The style of Brâncuși "was largely fueled by myths, folklore, and primitive culture," this combined with the modern materials and tools Brâncuși used to sculpt, "formed a unique contrast...resulting in a distinctive kind of modernity and timelessness." The technique Brâncuși was known for and used on Princess X could be mistaken for a penis, but in fact it was the simple form of a woman.

Cultural references to ''Princess X''

The publisher

Robert McAlmon Robert Menzies McAlmon (also used Robert M. McAlmon, as his signature name, March 9, 1895 – February 2, 1956) was an American writer, poet, and publisher. In the 1920s, he founded in Paris the publishing house, ''Contact Editions'', where he ...

's 1925 collection of short stories '' Distinguished Air'' is set in the gay culture of 1920s

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. One of these stories revolves around an exhibition of ''Princess X'', and the audience's reaction to it. In 1930, the watercolour painter

Charles Demuth Charles Henry Buckius Demuth (November 8, 1883 – October 23, 1935) was an American painter who specialized in watercolors and turned to oils late in his career, developing a style of painting known as Precisionism. "Search the history of Amer ...

painted ''Distinguished Air'', based on this story. Two of the viewers, one a gay sailor in uniform, study the phallus-like sculpture, emphasized in the painting. The husband of a married couple, an American with the 'distinguished air' of the title, is more interested in admiring the sailor.

References

Bibliography

* Brancusi (Brâncuși), ''Constantin (1876–1957)''. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2004. * Balas, Edith. ''Brâncuși and His World''. Pittsburgh: Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2008. * Bass, Jennifer Durham. ''Brâncuși, Constantin''. Vol. 1. Millerton, NY: Grey House Publishing, Inc, 2007. * Chave, Anna. ''Constantin Brâncuși: Shifting the Bases of Art''. New Haven Yale UP (1993). * Miller, Sanda. ''Constantin Brâncuși''. London: Reaktion (2010). {{Constantin Brancusi 1916 sculptures Bronze sculptures in Pennsylvania Sculptures in the Philadelphia Museum of Art Sculptures in the Musée National d'Art Moderne category:Sculptures in Nebraska Obscenity controversies in sculpture Sculptures by Constantin Brâncuși