“The Sainsbury Centre enjoys a close working relationship with Tate, which includes regular loans in both directions, and we are enormously grateful for the loan of this work. Brancusi is usually considered to be one of the most significant sculptors of the last two-hundred years. He revolutionised the practice of sculpture, producing a succession of masterpieces from 1907 well into to the century. Danaïde, of 1918, is one such masterpiece.” – Paul Greenhalgh, director, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts

Brancusi, a Romanian artist who worked in Paris in the first half of the twentieth century, was at the forefront of the European avant-garde. His groundbreaking carvings introduced forms of abstraction and a strong influence from both ancient and non-European art. His radical approach to making sculpture was initially ridiculed, even in Paris, which at the time was the capital of modern culture. It was in America that his reputation was cemented, not least by his appearance at the legendary New York Armoury show of 1913 that introduced European Modern Art to America. Many of his key works are still held in collections in the USA.

“Brancusi was exactly the sort of modern artist who appealed to Sir Robert Sainsbury when he started collecting in the late 1920s. In fact shortly after the Second World War he missed an opportunity to acquire a sculpture by the artist. Professor Steven Hooper recalled recently that when he interviewed Sir Robert in 1983, the matter clearly pained him to talk about even then. With this very generous loan from the Tate Collection we have an opportunity finally to see this artist’s work at the heart of the Sainsbury Collection.” – Calvin Winner, head of collections management and conservation, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts.

Danaïde will temporarily replace Henry Moore’s Mother and Child sculpture in the Living Area Gallery. Mother and Child, along with Moore’s Square Form and Sculptural Object in Landscape are on loan to Leeds Art Gallery as part of the tour of Tate’s Henry Moore exhibition.

Also on display at the Sainsbury Centre is Basketry: Making Human Nature, a major new exhibition which features basketry from the ancient world to the present day. The exhibition opened on Tuesday 8 February and runs until Sunday 22 May. It comprises world art objects and contemporary art (including a number of new works and commissions) from around the world. The exhibition, which includes practical items such as a reed boat, a donkey saddle bag and a suit of armour together with art and design pieces, challenges our notions of basketry and explores ideas about the place of basketry in human culture. Basketry: Making Human Nature is curated by Professor Sandy Heslop, at the University of East Anglia, and is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) through the Beyond Text programme. The exhibition is in association with the Norfolk and Norwich Festival (6 – 21 May) and is a British Museum Partnership Project.

Dates, Times and Information
Constantin Brancusi’s Danaïde will be on display in the Living Area Gallery at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts from Tuesday 15 February to late June. The Sainsbury Centre is open Tuesday to Sunday (closed Mondays including Bank Holiday Mondays), 10am to 5pm. Tel 01603 593199 www.scva.ac.uk


Admission
Free to the permanent collections


Basketry: Making Human Nature
The exhibition is a Sainsbury Institute for Art (SIfA) project and has been developed by the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts and the School of World Art Studies and Museology at the University of East Anglia. Basketry has been curated by Professor Sandy Heslop


Admission £4, concessions £2
Family admission (up to 2 adults and 3 children) £8, concessions £6

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