Nicole Kidman slowly walks through a circular room wrapped in white fabrics. In front of it, illuminated with golden tones, is “Danaïde”, the sculpture created by Constantin Brancusi around 1913 and considered one of the founding works of modern sculpture. From that encounter, Christie’s has built an audiovisual piece that turns contemplation of art into an almost hypnotic experience.
The auction house has released a short film directed by Stephen Tyler and produced by Studio 11F in which the Australian actress visits Christie’s galleries in New York’s Rockefeller Center to encounter the work of the Romanian sculptor. The video, accompanied by the song “Golden Years” by David Bowie, quickly adopts a dreamlike and emotional tone, moving away from the usual commercial logic of auctions to position itself on a terrain closer to artistic and cinematographic sensibility.
“Danaïde”, created by Constantin Brancusi around 1913, is part of “MASTERPIECES: The Private Collection of SI Newhouse”, the collection that has been publicly exhibited at Christie’s New York between May 9 and 18 within its week dedicated to the art of the 20th and 21st centuries. The sculpture, currently for sale, is valued at around $100 million and is considered one of the key works in the evolution of modern sculpture.
The piece portrays Margit Pogany, Hungarian artist and Brancusi’s frequent muse, through the simplified shapes and curves characteristic of the Romanian sculptor. Initially influenced by Auguste Rodin, Brancusi broke with classical representation to explore a more essential and abstract aesthetic, turning works such as “Danaïde” into fundamental references of 20th century art.
The short film builds precisely that emotional relationship between viewer and work. Kidman slowly circles the sculpture as the camera replicates her movements and emphasizes the golden curves of “Danaïde.” The contemplative tension ends up breaking with archival images linked to Lee Miller and Man Ray – direct references of inspiration for the piece – before transforming into a choreographed sequence where the actress begins to dance imitating the fluid lines of the work.
The production thus recovers a central idea of Brancusi himself, who stated: “Look at my sculptures until you can see them”. Christie’s transfers that thought to contemporary audiovisual language using Nicole Kidman as an intermediary between the work and the public. The actress functions as an emotional vehicle to express fascination, reverence, curiosity and connection to art.
Beyond promoting an auction, the piece shows how large cultural institutions are incorporating codes from fashion, cinema and branded artistic content to build new forms of relationships with audiences. Instead of focusing on technical data or the economic value of the work, Christie’s chooses to explore the subjective experience of viewing art and the emotional impact it can generate.
