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In 1926 US customs refused to let Constantin Brâncuși's polished bronze Bird in Space into New York as duty-free art, classing it as a manufactured metal object and charging a 40% tariff. The photographer Edward Steichen appealed, and in 1928 a US customs court ruled it was art even though it did not look like a bird.

Constantin Brâncuși

Art

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The duty came to about $230, a large sum at the time. Customs rules then let sculpture in free only if it imitated natural objects, and a smooth, tapering blade of bronze did not look like a bird. While the case waited, officials released the piece under the heading 'Kitchen Utensils and Hospital Supplies'. Steichen, who had bought it, took the government to court. Artists and critics, including the sculptor Jacob Epstein, testified for him, and Brâncuși sent a sworn statement from Paris explaining how he worked. In November 1928 Judges Young and Waite called the sculpture 'beautiful and symmetrical' and ruled it a work of art, an early legal recognition that abstract art, which does not copy nature, can still be art.

Türkçe oku
ABD gümrüğü 1926'da Constantin Brâncuși'nin parlatılmış bronz heykeli Uzayda Kuş'u gümrüksüz giren bir sanat eseri saymadı; onu sanayi ürünü bir metal eşya kabul edip yüzde 40 vergi istedi. Fotoğrafçı Edward Steichen itiraz etti ve 1928'de ABD Gümrük Mahkemesi, bir kuşa benzemese de eserin sanat olduğuna karar verdi.

Vergi yaklaşık 230 dolar tutuyordu; o dönem için büyük bir paraydı. Dönemin kurallarına göre bir heykel ancak doğadaki bir şeyi taklit ediyorsa gümrüksüz girebiliyordu; incelerek uzayan pürüzsüz bir bronz ise kuşa benzemiyordu. Dava sürerken görevliler eseri “mutfak eşyası ve hastane malzemesi” başlığı altında teslim etti. Heykeli satın almış olan Steichen hükümeti mahkemeye verdi. Heykeltıraş Jacob Epstein'ın da aralarında bulunduğu sanatçılar ve eleştirmenler onun lehine tanıklık etti; Brâncuși de Paris'ten, nasıl çalıştığını anlatan yeminli bir ifade gönderdi. Kasım 1928'de yargıçlar Young ve Waite heykeli “güzel ve simetrik” buldu ve sanat eseri olduğuna hükmetti. Karar, doğayı taklit etmeyen soyut sanatın da sanat sayılabileceğinin hukuken tanınmasının ilk örneklerinden biri oldu.

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Background reading: Bird in Space
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