Influence Brancusi's The Kiss

By definition, love has multiple meanings and it can be express in many different ways. In art, love is one of the most used form of emotions conveyed by artists and it is interpreted in many ways depending on the art work. For example, Constantin Brancusi’s The Kiss shows a more tender and simple meaning of love, whereas in comparison, Auguste Rodin’s The Kiss displays a more dramatic and passionate form of love. Due to the different sculpting technique, Brancusi is able to give his creation a more pure and profound definition of love than that of Rodin’s version of The Kiss.

A pioneer of abstract sculpturing of the 20th century, Constantin Brancusi created multiple versions of his well-known sculpture, The Kiss, in 1908- 1916. Influence

As mention before, Rodin has his assistants sculpture the life size version, while Brancusi physical carves it directly. With Rodin’s method, The Kiss has a colder appearance; the couple are perfectly carved and smoothed. This gives the idea that love is perfect and ideal. Brancusi’s technique gives a warmer appearance because the shape and texture of the limestone is still maintained, he uses the “solid quality of the stone to express lasting love”. Rodin “captures the sensual delight”, while Brancusi “symbolized the concept of two becoming one”. At first glance, Brancusi’s version is unappealing since the block only has geometric lines of the man and woman, who are almost unidentifiable. Compared to most sculptures, it looks foreign because the rough texture and shape of the stone is still intact. Brancusi does not follow the traditional academic ways, which makes him more radical than most artists of his time. However, as one continues to observe The Kiss, it becomes more attractive because instead of the usual love scene, Brancusi makes the viewers reflect on the idea of love. When observing Rodin’s work, the audiences is automatically attracted to it since it is something that traditional done and one can clearly tell who is in the sculpture. Rodin engages the observer’s emotion and heightening their senses as they gaze at the “natural softness of the