He did not see his work as abstract: “They are imbeciles who call my work abstract. That which they call abstract is the most realistic, because what is real is not the exterior but the idea, the essence of things.” He was fiercely independent: “Nothing can grow under big trees,” he said, explaining why he left Auguste Rodin’s studio after a mere two months. He is Constantin Brancusi, often referred to as the patriarch of modern sculpture. This retrospective, the largest in nearly a quarter-century, displays several of Brancusi’s most famous works, including Sleeping Muse and The Kiss. It also showcases, for the first time, some of his pieces alongside those of his short-lived mentor, Rodin. —J.V.