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Technique: cast bronze
Dimensions: 125 cm (H), 28 cm (W), 56 cm (D)
Object: This representational sculpture offers a frontal depiction of a naked young girl sat on a cuboid plinth. Both elements of the composition were made in bronze and cast as a whole. The figure is depicted realistically and proportionally, highlighting the model’s individual features. The upper part of her silhouette is slightly slumped and bent, her right arm and left leg are delicately shifted forward. Her face is characterized by delicate, regular features and a short hairstyle. The girl used to hold a floral garland – the symbol of purity and innocence. The sculpture was acquired by the Department of Culture of the Gdańsk City Council and transferred to the National Museum in Gdańsk on 29 December 1973. Since 1976, Early Spring has formed part of the open-air sculpture exhibition in Oliwa Park. The work was set on a 105 cm high granite plinth measuring 45 × 71 cm at the base. The sculpture is currently incomplete – the garland, stolen in 1991, remains missing. The work is not signed.
Place: The sculpture is integrated into the natural landscape of the northern part of the Adam Mickiewicz Park in Oliwa. It forms part of the Gallery of Contemporary Gdańsk Sculpture from the collection of the National Museum in Gdańsk, created on the initiative of the Museum, the District Board of the Association of Polish Artists and Designers (ZPAP) and the City Council. The outdoor gallery, showcasing works by artists from different generations, was officially opened on 30 March 1976.
Information about the author:
Anna Pietrowiec (b. 1909 in Częstochowa, d. 1989 in Gdańsk) studied at the Faculty of Sculpture of the State School of Visual Arts (PWSSP) in Gdańsk – the present-day Academy of Fine Arts. She graduated in 1951. She worked at the Gdańsk Academy between 1952 and 1973. She also created bas-reliefs for the Marszałkowska Residential District (MDM) in Warsaw. The artist designed several monuments, including monument to Maria Konopnicka, Peasant’s House in Warsaw, bust of Tadeusz Kościuszko (Primary School no. 52 in Gdańsk), bust of Henryk Sienkiewicz in Malbork, bas-relief To the Victims of Majdanek in Lublin and bust of Eliza Orzeszkowa in Wałbrzych.
Condition of the object: good, missing element – floral garland
Owner/guardian: The National Museum in Gdańsk
Author of the entry: Andrzej Zagrobelny
Sources:
Index card from the Research Catalogue of Artistic and Artistic/Historical Exhibits, inv. no. MNG/SW/33/RZ
Bibliography:
Galeria Współczesnej Rzeźby Gdańskiej w Parku Oliwskim, J.W. Bradtke, ed., The National Museum in Gdańsk (Gdańsk 1978) [2nd edition, Gdańsk 1989]
Franciszek Mamuszka, “Ekspozycja rzeźby w parku oliwskim”, in ead., Oliwa. Okruchy z dziejów, zabytki (Gdańsk 1985)
Zofia Watrak, “Rodowody i kontynuacje rzeźby gdańskiej. Mistrzowie i uczniowie gdańskiej uczelni,” in Gdański Rocznik Kulturalny, no. 8 (1985)
Zofia Tomczyk-Watrak, Wybory i przemilczenia. Od szkoły sopockiej do nowej szkoły gdańskiej (Gdańsk 2001)
Mentions of the artist:
Państwowa Wyższa Szkoła Sztuk Plastycznych w Gdańsku: 1945–1965, J. Wnukowa, ed. (Gdańsk 1965)
Ignacy Witz, Plastycy Wybrzeża (Gdańsk 1969)
Wojciech Zmorzyński, “Rzeźba”, in Akademia Sztuk Pięknych w Gdańsku 1945–2005. Tradycja i współczesność, The National Museum in Gdańsk (Gdańsk 2005)
Wydział Rzeźby Akademii Sztuk Pięknych w Gdański: 2002–2003, L. Ostrogórska, J. Rudnicka, eds. (Gdańsk 2003)
Help us build the database of art objects in Gdańsk by filling in the form and adding photographs.
