Monument à Frédéric Chopin à Rio de Janeiro, photo Paulo JC Nogueira, 2014
Licence: CC BY 3.0, Source: Wikimedia Commons, Modifié: oui, Conditions d\'autorisation
Photo montrant Monument to Frederic Chopin in Rio de Janeiro
Monument à Frédéric Chopin à Rio de Janeiro, photo Paulo JC Nogueira, 2014
Licence: CC BY 3.0, Source: Wikimedia Commons, Conditions d\'autorisation
Photo montrant Monument to Frederic Chopin in Rio de Janeiro
Monument à Frédéric Chopin à Rio de Janeiro, photo Cecylia Rotter, 2024
Licence: CC BY 3.0, Source: Instytut Polonika, Conditions d\'autorisation
Photo montrant Monument to Frederic Chopin in Rio de Janeiro
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ID: POL-001956-P

Monument to Frederic Chopin in Rio de Janeiro

ID: POL-001956-P

Monument to Frederic Chopin in Rio de Janeiro

An intimate statue, blending naturally with its surroundings, on a low pedestal the statue stands on the beach promenade, facing the sea. It appears to walk among the beachgoers.

August Zamoyski was in Brazil from 1940, where he was very active in the dissemination of art, particularly sculpture. He designed sculptures for public spaces and for private commissions; several were realised. His first major work after settling in Brazil was a statue of Chopin, commissioned by the Brazilian Polish community as its gift to the city of Rio de Janeiro. Zamoyski, who exceptionally only made monuments and was reluctant to this kind of artistic task, also wrote about the Chopin commission in his diary of 1.09.1943 that he was 'not keen on this work'. The work was created quickly, however, and was solemnly unveiled on the fifth anniversary of the outbreak of war, 1.09.1944. The sculptor's model was a Polish dancer, an emigrant in Argentina, Jerzy Szabelewski. His choreography was then used to stage a ballet at the nearby Teatro Municipal entitled. 'Ballada polska, czyli Wizje' (Polish Ballad, or Visions), which featured a vision-figure of Chopin as seen by Zamoyski. Zamoyski depicted Chopin, taking into account the seaside location, as 'listening on the seashore to what the waves bring him for news from his homeland - just as we all listen today as our hearts beat there' (the artist's statement from 1945). He found an excellent compromise between a vivid, almost generic image of a particular person in 19th-century dress, with a silhouette and physiognomy recognisable as a famous composer - and a synthetic modern form expressing the reverie and poetic reflection of a genius. Jan Lechoń wrote in his 'Diary' on 11.11.1951:

"A reproduction of Guc Zamoyski's Chopin. This work always equally and anew delights me, although I know it only from a picture. There is in it a romanticism as poised as in Chopin, one might say classical romanticism. It is both a masterpiece of mood and form. Gucio himself told me that his 'Chopin' stands like Michelangelo's 'David', but I have long known how little can be invented in sculpture (...). Nevertheless, this figure is made new by the inspiration of the artist, by the wonderful lightness and solidity of the monumentality of art enchanted in it."

The plaster reduced model (and its bronze version) of Zamoyski have been preserved in the legacy of his wife (now in the National Museum in Warsaw). The sculpture proper has also lived to see several casts, which are in private collections in the USA and Great Britain.

Related persons:
Time of origin:
1944
Creator:
August Zamoyski (rzeźbiarz; Polska, Francja, USA, Brazylia)(aperçu)
Bibliography:
  • Z. Kossakowska-Szanajca, „August Zamoyski”, Warszawa 1974, s. 51-52 (tamże obfita bibl. artykułów okolicznościowych prasy brazylijskiej).
  • August Zamoyski 1893-1970, katalog wystawy monograficznej w stulecie urodzin artysty w Muzeum Narodowym w Warszawie, red. Z. Kossakowska-Szanajca, Warszawa 1993, s. 88-89.
  • „August Zamoyski. Myśleć w kamieniu”, katalog wystawy w Muzeum Literatury im. A. Mickiewicza w Warszawie, red. A. Lipa, Warszawa 2019, s. 368, 479, 497-498.
  • Jan Lechoń, „Dziennik”, t. 2, Warszawa 1992, s. 287.
Supplementary bibliography:

"Tygodnik Polski - The Polish Weekly", 1945, no. 9.

Keywords:
Publikacja:
15.07.2024
Ostatnia aktualizacja:
13.10.2024
Author:
prof. Andrzej Pieńkos
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