Albin Polasek (February 14, 1879 – May 19, 1965) was a Czech-American sculptor and educator. He created more than 400 works during his career, 200 of which are displayed in the
Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens in
Winter Park, Florida
Winter Park is a city in Orange County, Florida, United States. The population was 30,183 according to the 2022 census population estimate. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Winter Park was fo ...
.
Career
Born as Albín Polášek in
Frenštát,
Moravia
Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia.
The me ...
, part of the
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
(now in the Czech Republic), Polasek apprenticed as a wood carver in Vienna. At the age of 22, he emigrated to the United States and began formal art training at age 25 under
Charles Grafly
Charles Allan Grafly, Jr. (December 3, 1862May 5, 1929) was an American sculptor, and teacher. Instructor of Sculpture at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts for 37 years, his students included Paul Manship, Albin Polasek, and Walker Hanc ...
at the
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[Rome Prize
The Rome Prize is awarded by the American Academy in Rome, in Rome, Italy. Approximately thirty scholars and artists are selected each year to receive a study fellowship at the academy. Prizes have been awarded annually since 1921, with a hiatus ...](_blank)
competition; in 1913, he received honorable mention at the
Paris Salon
The Salon (french: Salon), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art ...
for "The Sower;" in 1915, he took the
Widener Gold Medal The George D. Widener Memorial Gold Medal was a prestigious sculpture prize awarded by the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts from 1913 to 1968. Established in 1912, it recognized the "most meritorious work of Sculpture modeled by an American cit ...
from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts for his sculpture "Aspiration."
At age 37, after periods of residence in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
and
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, he was invited to head the sculpture department at the
Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...
, where he remained for nearly 30 years. While there he created the original ''
Forest Idyll
''Forest Idyl'' (sometimes spelled ''Forest Idyll'', but originally titled "Idyl") is a bronze statue created in 1924 by Albin Polasek while he was head of the Sculpture Department at the Art Institute of Chicago. There are several copies of th ...
''; ''Victorious Christ'' for
St. Cecelia's Cathedral in
Omaha
Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest city ...
, Nebraska; Kenilworth Memorial relief,
Kenilworth
Kenilworth ( ) is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Warwick (district), Warwick District in Warwickshire, England, south-west of Coventry, north of Warwick and north-west of London. It lies on Finham Brook, a ...
, Illinois; ''
The Spirit of Music'' in
Grant Park in Chicago; the ''
Woodrow Wilson Memorial'' in Prague, Czech Republic; Governor
Richard Yates sculpture, capital grounds,
Springfield
Springfield may refer to:
* Springfield (toponym), the place name in general
Places and locations Australia
* Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast)
* Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council)
* Springfield, Queenslan ...
, Illinois; and many other works. Polasek was elected an associate member of the
National Academy of Design
The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the fin ...
in 1927 and full member in 1933.
Albin Polasek was a close friend of fellow artist
Louis Grell Louis may refer to:
* Louis (coin)
* Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name
* Louis (surname)
* Louis (singer), Serbian singer
* HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy
See also
Derived or associated terms
* Lewis ...
while he lived at
Tree Studios in Chicago. The Grell Family archive collection contains letters by Grell discussing Polasek's move to Florida and becoming ill shortly after.
In 1950, Polasek retired at age 70 to Winter Park, Florida. Within months, he suffered a stroke that left his left side paralyzed; he subsequently completed 18 major works with his right hand only, including ''Victory of Moral Law'', the artist's comment on the
1956 Hungarian Revolution. Toward the end of 1950, at age 71, he married former student
Ruth Sherwood
Ruth (or its variants) may refer to:
Places
France
* Château de Ruthie, castle in the commune of Aussurucq in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques département of France
Switzerland
* Ruth, a hamlet in Cologny
United States
* Ruth, Alabama
* Ruth, Ar ...
, who died 22 months later in October 1952. In 1961, Polasek married Emily Muska Kubat. Upon his death in 1965, Polasek was buried beside his first wife in Winter Park's Palm Cemetery, where his ''12th Station of the Cross'' (1939) is his monument. Emily M.K. Polasek died in 1988.
Selected works
Polasek's better-known works include the ''Theodore Thomas Memorial'' (1924), the 1941 memorial to
Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk Tomáš () is a Czech and Slovak given name, equivalent to the name Thomas.
It may refer to:
* Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (1850–1937), first President of Czechoslovakia
* Tomáš Baťa (1876–1932), Czech footwear entrepreneur
* Tomáš Berdych ( ...
in Chicago,
[Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk Memorial. Chicago Public Art. http://chicagopublicart.blogspot.com/2013/09/tomas-garrigue-masaryk-memorial.html] the ''Wilson Memorial'' (1928), ''
Radegast'' (1929) and ''Sts. Cyril and Methodius'' (1929) in the Czech Republic. His ''Mother Crying Over the World'' (1942) was a response to World War II and his ''Victory of Moral Law'' (1956) to the
Hungarian Revolution.
Cemetery monuments
Like many other sculptors of his era, Polasek created several cemetery memorials. Notable among these are ''The Pilgrim'' and ''The Mother'' (1927), both located in the
Bohemian National Cemetery in Chicago, and the ''Pilgrim at the Eternal Gate'' in
Lake View Cemetery
Lake View Cemetery is a privately owned, nonprofit garden cemetery located in the cities of Cleveland, Cleveland Heights, and East Cleveland in the U.S. state of Ohio. Founded in 1869, the cemetery was favored by wealthy families during the Gil ...
in Cleveland, Ohio. Pictures of all three are featured in both biographies listed in the sources section.
Images
File:Cyril Metodej.jpg, ''Sts. Cyril and Methodius''
File:Strůjce svého osudu.jpg, ''Man carving his own destiny''
File:Cb-sower2.jpg, ''The Sower'', 1911
File:Socha Radegasta.jpg, '' Radegast''
File:Masaryk EquChi1.jpg, ''Tomáš Masaryk
Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (7 March 185014 September 1937) was a Czechoslovak politician, statesman, sociologist, and philosopher. Until 1914, he advocated restructuring the Austro-Hungarian Empire into a federal state. With the help of ...
Memorial'', Chicago
File:Capitol Richard Yates statue by Albin Polasek.jpg, Yates Memorial, Springfield, Illinois, 1923
File:Capitol Richard Yates statue detail by Albin Polasek.jpg, detail, Yates Memorial
File:Gibault statue.jpg, Pierre Gibault
Father Pierre Gibault (7 April 1737 – 16 August 1802) was a Jesuit missionary and priest in the Northwest Territory in the 18th century, and an American Patriot during the American Revolution.
Frontier Missionary
Gibault was born 7 April 1737 ...
, Vincennes, Indiana, 1934
See also
*''
Forest Idyll
''Forest Idyl'' (sometimes spelled ''Forest Idyll'', but originally titled "Idyl") is a bronze statue created in 1924 by Albin Polasek while he was head of the Sculpture Department at the Art Institute of Chicago. There are several copies of th ...
''
Literature
* JAEGEROVÁ, Anna. ''Albín Polášek: Boundaries of Continents and Ages''. Brno, 2018
Available online Bachelor's thesis. Masaryk University, Faculty of Arts. Thesis supervisor Pavel Suchánek.
References
*Kvaran, Einar Einarsson, ''Cemetery Sculpture in America'', unpublished manuscript
*Polasek, ''Albin Polasek: Man Carving His Own Destiny,'' Albin Polasek Foundation 1970
*Sherwood, Ruth, ''Carving His Own Destiny: The Story of Albin Polasek,''
Ralph Fletcher Seymour
Ralph Fletcher Seymour (March 18, 1876 – January 1, 1966) was an American artist, author, and publisher of the late nineteenth and the twentieth centuries. Though long based in Chicago, he was also noted for his work in the American Southwest ...
, Publisher, Chicago 1954
External links
Polasek Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Polasek, Albin
1879 births
1965 deaths
People from Frenštát pod Radhoštěm
People from the Margraviate of Moravia
Austro-Hungarian emigrants to the United States
American people of Czech descent
American architectural sculptors
American male sculptors
Czech Roman Catholics
Czech sculptors
Czech male sculptors
Modern sculptors
Artists from Chicago
People from Winter Park, Florida
20th-century American sculptors
20th-century American male artists
National Sculpture Society members
Sculptors from Illinois
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts alumni
National Academy of Design members