- Jan Štursa
Jan Štursa (
May 15 ,1880 inNové Město na Moravě -May 2 ,1925 inPrague , suicide) was a Czech sculptor, one of founders of modern Czech sculpture.Birth and studies
Štursa was born in mountainous area of
Vysočina Region . He studied masonry and sculpture in Hořice and worked as stone cutter. Later, he studied at the Academy of Arts (AVU) in Prague under professorJosef Myslbek , a known sculptor. As a result of very rigorous criticism from Myslbek, Štursa destroyed most of his early works.Themes and materials
Štursa was not influenced by . Portrait painting was an important part of his works.
World War I
The tragedy of
World War I (he had served at the front) affected Štursa's work. The most famous work of this period is "The Wounded": [http://www.jennmaur.com/sculpture%20images/op200pstursawoundedlarge1.jpgearly version] , [http://www.jennmaur.com/sculpture%20images/op200pStursasmallwounded2.jpgfinal version] (1921), [http://www.jennmaur.com/scsubjectindex/artnoveauartdeco/artnoveauartdeco7.htm more details] .The inspiration for the "Burial in the Carpathians" sculpture was a photograph from a Carpathian battlefield. The original group in Austrian uniforms was remade in 1920s into a memorial of victims of WWI and placed in the village
Předměřice nad Jizerou , with copies in Místek and inNové Město na Moravě .During 1922-24 Štursa served as
Rector of the Academy of Arts (AVU). Štursa suffered from the effects ofsyphilis and in 1925, faced with increasing pain, he killed himself in hisatelier two weeks before his 45th birthday.Štursa's nephew Jiri Štursa was the architect of
Stalin's Monument (Prague) .Works
*
Art nouveau funerary monument for artistMax Horb in theNew Jewish Cemetery .Marie vitochova Jindrichkjer and Jiri Vsetecka, "Prague and Art Nouveau", translation by Denis Rath and Mark Prescott, Prague: V Raji, 1995.]References
* Petr Wittlich: "Sculpture of the Czech Art Nouveau", Prague, Karolinum Press 2001, ISBN 80-246-0235-0 (in English, German translation available)
* Jiří Mašín, photos Tibor Honty: "Jan Štursa", Odeon, Prague, 1981External links
* [http://www.libri.cz/databaze/kdo18/search.php?zp=5&name=%A9TURSA+JAN&vic=1 Short biography] (in Czech)
* [http://www.ilovefiguresculpture.com/masters/czech/stursa.htm Gallery of several Štursa's sculptures]
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