Dimensions: 33.5 x 22 x 15 cm
signed, dated, and inscribed: 'H. KUNA Paris | 1926 5/6'
Edition: 5/6
contemporary cast
Bibliography
Compare:
“Sztuki Piękne,” Volume 7, 1931, p. 152 (ill.) (sculpture presented at a group exhibition at the TZSP in Warsaw)
See also:
Stefania Podhorska-Okołów, “Joyful Poland and Contemplative Poland”
(in Stryjeńska’s paintings, in Kuna’s sculptures, in Wyspiański’s pastels), “Bluszcz” 1930, No. 47, p. 7 (ill.)
Biography
Henryk Kuna was one of the most colorful figures in the interwar art world. The son of a rabbi and a student at the yeshiva (a rabbinical school) in Ciechanów, he did not begin learning Polish until he was a teenager. Around 1900, he settled in Warsaw, where he began studying in Pius Waloński’s studio. Later, with the help of Bolesław Biegas, he left to study in Kraków. From 1902 to 1904, he studied under Konstanty Laszczka and also traveled to Paris twice. In 1910, he worked as a laborer for a stonemason. During this period, he created works in the spirit of Young Poland, stylistically reminiscent of the sculptures of Auguste Rodin and Impressionism, and later in a more classical style, inspired by the work of Aristide Maillol. Kuna made his debut in 1904 at the Zachęta in Warsaw. In Warsaw, he also exhibited at Garliński’s salon and at the Institute for the Promotion of Art. In 1912, he settled permanently in Warsaw. From 1921 onward, he was a member of the Rytm association and one of its leading representatives. Together with Rytm, he exhibited throughout Poland from 1922 to 1932 and at international exhibitions of Polish art. In 1931, he won a highly publicized competition to design a monument to Adam Mickiewicz for Vilnius. Two years later, the artist presented a wooden model of a sculpture depicting the poet on a pedestal in the form of a pillar—Światowid. Unfortunately, due to a smear campaign launched by the Vilnius weekly *Słowo*, the project—undoubtedly one of the most interesting monuments of the interwar period—was abandoned. In 1936, Kuna became chair of the sculpture department at the Faculty of Fine Arts of Stefan Batory University in Vilnius. At the same time, he worked in Warsaw—his studio was located on Czackiego Street.
