Miss Pogany II, three-quarter view, polished bronze (Melle Pogany, vue de trois-quarts, bronze poli)

Constantin Brâncusi, known principally for his sculpture, used photography not just to document his work but to interpret and transform it. He staged his Paris studio as an ever-changing theater for his camera, juxtaposing selected pieces and depicting the contrast of shapes and surfaces at play among them. Brâncusi first met Margit Pogány, a young Hungarian painter, in Paris in 1910, and over the next several decades he made several sculptures of her head—in plaster, marble, and highly polished bronze (seen here). This version emphasizes Pogány’s enormous eyes, which Brâncusi felt were her most distinguishing feature. The eyes in turn seem to capture the entire studio, reflecting the artist and his camera, but also the surrounding array of works, so that the sculpture performs like a soloist in a large ensemble.