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Richard Lord

Atelier Brancusi, part of Paris’ Pompidou Centre, is the perfectly preserved Parisian studio of Constantin Brancusi (1876-1957).
Bequeathed by the Romanian artist to the French state following his death, it was reconstructed by architect Renzo Piano in the early 1990s after the original was damaged by flooding.
Hong Kong artist Michael Lau Kin-man, best known for his designer toys, as well as for paintings and sculptures, tells Richard Lord how it changed his life.
My first trip to Paris was in 1996 or 1997, after I won a sponsorship as part of the Most Promising Artist Award from the Philippe Charriol Foundation (established by the eponymous luxury watchmaker and jeweller to promote Asian art).

I made use of the funding to go to Paris to see all the great museums and original artwork that was previously only available to me by reading.
At that time, I was at a stage when I was in between completing my studies (at the First Institute of Art and Design in Causeway Bay) and trying to get into the world of art.
I had started doing painting and trying to put together exhibitions: I had already done two, at the Hong Kong Arts Centre in 1993 and 1996. I was still pondering what would be next.
I kept doing different competitions, trying to showcase what I wanted to do in my art. It was a period of trial and error.
It was my first visit to Europe, to France, to Paris and to the Pompidou Centre. I went to the Atelier Brancusi, where I discovered the forms of Brancusi’s works. I loved them and got really inspired by them.

The atelier isn’t like a regular exhibition; it’s his studio. It has a much more intimate feeling – you get to know the artist and how he works more deeply than with a normal exhibition.
The way everything was displayed in the space gave me a three-dimensional perspective on his work – a detailed understanding of the artist. It gives the viewer a strong takeaway of the relationship between light and shadow and geometric forms.
For someone like me, who does sculptures, it had a big impact.
Upon returning to Hong Kong, I started working on my “Gardener” series, which is a collection of 99 figures, some fictional and some based on real people from the street culture world.
I took cues from Brancusi in designing them. But his inspiration is not just seen in the “Gardener” series; he’s had a significant impact throughout my career in terms of the graphical interpretations I use, from two-dimensional paintings to three-dimensional sculptures.
Every time I return to France, I visit the atelier – I’ve been more than 10 times. At various times I’ve visited, one thing that’s really struck me when I see some of the work again is that it’s almost like looking at my own work and recalling, “So this form has really inspired me.”
It’s not like I’m intentionally copying; his work just left such an impression in my mind.


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Hong Kong designer toymaker and artist Michael Lau. Photo: Affa Chan

Works by Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi are seen at Atelier Brancasi, his perfectly preserved studio, at Paris’ Pompidou Centre, in France. Photo: Pompidou Centre

Michael Lau visits Atelier Brancusi every time he returns to France. Photo: Affa Chan

Atelier Brancusi at Paris’ Pompidou Centre. Photo: Pompidou Centre

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Works by street artists on show as part of Petit Palais’ We Are Here exhibition. Photo: Getty Images

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In Tetsumi Kudo’s 1966 work For Your Living Room – For Nostalgic Purpose, on show at Hauser + Wirth, zoomorphic penises have feeders full of pills. Photo: Hiroko Kudo, the Estate of Tetsumi Kudo/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP Paris 2024

Tetsumi Kudo. Photo: Hiroko Kudo, the Estate of Tetsumi Kudo/Artists Rights Society, New York/ADAGP Paris 2024 

Portrait of Artist in the Crisis (1978), Tetsumi Kudo. Photo: Hiroko Kudo, the Estate of Tetsumi Kudo/Artists Rights Society, New York/ADAGP Paris 2024 

Paradise (1980), Tetsumi Kudo. Photo: Hiroko Kudo, the Estate of Tetsumi Kudo/Artists Rights Society, New York/ADAGP Paris 2024

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Pace CEO Marc Glimcher. Photo: Suzie Howell

Installation view of “Calder: Un effet du japonais”, Pace’s retrospective of American sculptor Alexander Calder, at Azabudai Hills Gallery. Photo: Tadayuki Minamoto

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Michael Lau reveals how the Pompidou Centre’s Atelier Brancusi gave a vivid understanding of the Romanian sculptor and inspired his practice


Hong Kong designer toymaker and artist Michael Lau explains how Constantin Brancusi’s atelier at Paris’ Pompidou Centre gave a vivid understanding of the Romanian sculptor and inspired his practice.
