In the summer of 1916, Brancusi created a new version of The Kiss, originally created in 1907/08, as a commission for John Quinn, his New York Patron and great supporter of Modern Art. Brancusi intended the piece to be without a base, even though it is now presented in the Philadelphia Museum of Art with one.
 
Brancusi was very close to Marcel Duchamp who acted as his agent in the USA and they would call each other “Maurice” (or Morice). Brancusi said “Maurices are a very particular kind of person… they cannot be defined. They exist in the world and recognize each other when they meet”. 
 
Fernand Leger’s, also a close friend, said “The relationship of volumes, lines, and colors demands absolute orchestration and order”. Alfred Stieglitz presented the first solo show of Brancusi’s work at his New York gallery, in 1914.

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Sources: Constantin Brancusi, By Sanda Miller, 2012   I  Marcel Duchamp Caroline Cros Reaktion Books, 2006
The documents of 20th century art – Functions of Painting by Fernand Léger, in Thames and Hudson Ltd, London 1973, pp. 24-25
Philadelphia Museum of Art