October 21, 1926. Marcel Duchamp is on a ship heading for the USA. Along with Messieur Duchamp there are 20 sculptures made by Romanian artist Constantin Brancusi. At the time import/export laws declared that ordinary merchandise was subject to duty at 40 per cent, while art was not. When the sculptures came to customs check the custom official said: “This is not art, this is some kind of industrial item. You’ll pay the full cost.”
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| Bird In Space - Brancusi “That’s not even a bird. Has no wings nor beak” |
The whole thing grew up on press and media turning soon into a big, and still today famous, US court case which asked: when is a sculpture not a sculpture? The two contestants were the US government and the sculptor, Constantin Brancusi. Among the expert witnesses were Jacob Epstein and the great photographer Edward Steichen, while also drawn into the dispute were Marcel Duchamp (of course), Ezra Pound, and Henri-Pierre Roché, author of Jules et Jim. The point of the legal issue soon became the eternal question: “what is art?” Well, the trial itself lasted about two years, but in the end the court sentence was: “Yes, it’s a bird”. Marcel Duchamp received his money back. Today Constantin Brancusi is considered one of the most important sculptors of the 20th century.
Next time you see a contemporary work of art, think twice before saying: “meh, it’s just a gimmicky”.
