Description
Bronze; 32 x 25.5 x 23 cm
Signed J. Gabowicz
Condition: broken off right hand
Smaller version of the sculpture made before 1901 at the Lopienski Brothers foundry
Asking price 10000
Estimate 12000 - 14000
Auction 208, 11.12.2021
Jozef GABOWICZ
1862 Kolno - 1939 Warsaw
Sculptor. He came from a poor family. Thanks to the help of Dr. Frenkel, who paid for his education, he was able to study with L. Kucharzewski and W. Gerson. He studied at the Warsaw Drawing Class and - as a free student, a scholarship student of H. Wawelberg - at the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg (1885-1895). Later he went to Paris, where he studied under A. Rodin and J. Thomas. He made his debut at the Paris Salons. From 1901 he lived in Warsaw, working as an engraver at the Lopienski Brothers foundry. He exhibited his works in, among other places: Warsaw (also at the first exhibition of Jewish artists in 1911), Paris, St. Petersburg, Kyiv and Minsk. In 1910 France awarded him the officer's palm of the Legion of Honor for lifetime achievement. During World War I, he stayed in Moscow. In 1915 he organized an exhibition there to benefit Polish refugees. After returning to Warsaw, he exhibited at the ZTKSP. Gabovich's art was formed under the influence of 19th century naturalism and remained unchanged until the end. The artist's favorite themes were sentimentally shown misery and human tragedy (The Last Drop, News from Beyond the Sea) and symbolic motifs (The Living String). He successfully practiced portrait sculpture (e.g., portraits of H. Wawelberg, L. Zamenhof, J. Bloch) and medal making (e.g., portrait medals and bust of Eliza Orzeszkowa). A large collection of his sculptures, salvaged from the artist's studio, is now in the collection of the Museum of the Jewish Historical Institute.
