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Bust of a Man

Julia Smolkowna

Basic information
ID
С-I-1981
Author
Julia Smolkowna
Name
Bust of a Man
Date of creation
1924
Country
Poland
Culture
Contemporary times
Technique
moulding polychrome
Material
plaster
Dimensions (height x width x depth, cm)
53 x 45 x 31
Additionally
Type
sculpture 3D
Genre
portraiture
Plot
Portrait bust
Information about author
Author
Julia Smolkowna
Artist's lifetime
1880–1944
Country
Austro-Hungarian Empire, Poland
Biography
Julia Smolkowna (1880–1944) was a sculptor, member of the Association of Polish Women Artists in Lviv, and granddaughter of the famous Galician politician Franciszek Smolka. She studied at the Lviv School of Art and Industry (1909–1913) and later in Paris (1913–1914). Between 1917 and 1923, she participated in the Association of Polish Women Artists exhibitions in Lviv, where her works were well received. From 1925, she taught sculpture at the Association of Polish Women Artists studio in Lviv at 12 Stefan Batory Street (now Kniazia Romana Street). She died on 28 July 1944 and was buried in the Lychakiv cemetery. The artist is the author of portrait busts, genre compositions, memorial projects, memorial portrait medallions, and bas-reliefs commissioned by A. Zachariewicz and A. Piller and placed on the facades and interiors of some buildings in Lviv. She worked in plaster and bronze. She used a formal system typical of 1900–1918, combining the inspirations of Auguste Rodin, Impressionism, and Secession. In her later works, she used the artistic language of modernised Classicism, "academic Realism," and, less frequently, Art Deco.
Object description
"Bust of a Man" (1924) demonstrates the tendencies towards neo-classicism and 'academic realism' in Julia Smolkowna's work in the second half of the 1920s. In contrast to the earlier "Bust of Emanuel Machek" (1912), the portrait is characterised by classical balance and the completeness of the modelling of the forms. The carefully modelled old, puffy face, with the raised eyebrows, large nose and self-absorbed gaze of sunken eyes, is full of calmness and fatigue. The hairstyle, tie and suit emphasise the sitter's high social status. The vigorous modelling of the shoulders echoes the Impressionist modelling characteristic of J. Smolkowna.
Inscriptions
Signed and dated on the left side of the base: "J. Smolkówna / 1924".
Legal regulation
Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery

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