Štursa, Jan. (1880 - 1925). Wounded, 1918. Bronze with brown patina, 19.1 inches hight (48.5 cm), on a pedestal made of pink Slivenec marble (h. 2.5 cm x 21 cm), sign. laterally on the bronze plinth: J. STURSA. Small chip to rear left corner of pedestal, else very fine.
This iconic statue was created during the end of First World War, and depicts a solider shot through the head, in the act of falling. Along with Joseph Myslbeck, Jan Stursa is regarded as the foremost Czech sculptor of his generation. For his obituary, The Studio magazine noted that 'he expressed in the purest form the type of Czech who is sensual, coarse in his instincts, of extraordinary musical talents, melancholy and then again blazing up all of a sudden...'; in his work was celebrated 'the passionate longing for the rendering of individual and transitory life that lasts but a moment'. The final form of the present statue was arrived at over a creative process of several years and was very difficult to find the persuasiveness of the diagonal fall of the body, which was anchored to the ground only with the falling figure's toes. The balance of the composition was then achieved by a helical bend of the body, which was projected into the movements of the arms and the bowed head.
RELATED LITERATURE
The Studio, vol. XCIV, no. 412, July 1927, pp. 58-61; Jan Stursa, Dilo, Prague, 1926; P. Wittlich, Sculpture of the Czech Art Nouveau, Prague, 2001, pp. 351-385
RELATED LITERATURE
The Studio, vol. XCIV, no. 412, July 1927, pp. 58-61; Jan Stursa, Dilo, Prague, 1926; P. Wittlich, Sculpture of the Czech Art Nouveau, Prague, 2001, pp. 351-385
Štursa, Jan. (1880 - 1925). Wounded, 1918. Bronze with brown patina, 19.1 inches hight (48.5 cm), on a pedestal made of pink Slivenec marble (h. 2.5 cm x 21 cm), sign. laterally on the bronze plinth: J. STURSA. Small chip to rear left corner of pedestal, else very fine.
This iconic statue was created during the end of First World War, and depicts a solider shot through the head, in the act of falling. Along with Joseph Myslbeck, Jan Stursa is regarded as the foremost Czech sculptor of his generation. For his obituary, The Studio magazine noted that 'he expressed in the purest form the type of Czech who is sensual, coarse in his instincts, of extraordinary musical talents, melancholy and then again blazing up all of a sudden...'; in his work was celebrated 'the passionate longing for the rendering of individual and transitory life that lasts but a moment'. The final form of the present statue was arrived at over a creative process of several years and was very difficult to find the persuasiveness of the diagonal fall of the body, which was anchored to the ground only with the falling figure's toes. The balance of the composition was then achieved by a helical bend of the body, which was projected into the movements of the arms and the bowed head.
RELATED LITERATURE
The Studio, vol. XCIV, no. 412, July 1927, pp. 58-61; Jan Stursa, Dilo, Prague, 1926; P. Wittlich, Sculpture of the Czech Art Nouveau, Prague, 2001, pp. 351-385
RELATED LITERATURE
The Studio, vol. XCIV, no. 412, July 1927, pp. 58-61; Jan Stursa, Dilo, Prague, 1926; P. Wittlich, Sculpture of the Czech Art Nouveau, Prague, 2001, pp. 351-385