Motherhood – sculpture

Technique: sandstone sculpture

Dimensions: 110 cm (H), 43 cm (W), 49 cm (D)

Object: Two sketchy outlines, a mother and child, are carved in a compact, irregular block of grey sandstone. The child clings to the woman’s back, embracing her neck and pressing his head to the mother’s left cheek. The woman was depicted from the front, with her head slightly lifted towards the child. Her right hand is loosely placed on her knee, the left hand supports the child. The facial features and details of both figures are very simplified, devoid of any characteristic anatomical features and reduced to a general shape of the silhouettes. The lower part of the statue was deliberately left unfinished. The sculptural material is coarse, with clear traces of the chisel visible on the surface. The sculpture was made in 1957 and acquired by the National Museum in Gdańsk in 1969. Since 1976, Motherhood has formed part of the open-air sculpture gallery in the Oliwa Park. The work was set on a 105 cm high granite plinth measuring 55 × 53 cm at the base. The statue 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:

Marian Wnuk (b. 1906 in Przedbórz, d. 1967 in Warsaw) studied at the Faculty of Sculpture of the Warsaw School of Fine Arts in Prof. Tadeusz Breyer’s studio (1926-1932). From 1944 until the outbreak of World War II, he worked at the State Institute of Visual Arts in Lviv. During that time, he took part in many sculpture competitions (e.g. for statues of Józef Piłsudski in Lviv and Warsaw). Since 1945, he worked as professor at the State School of Visual Arts in Gdańsk – the present-day Academy of Fine Arts. From 1949 until the end of his life, he was a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, twice serving as its vice-chancellor (1951–1954) and 1959–1967. He is the author of several sculptures, including Monument of Gratitude to the Soviet Army in Gdynia, Monument to Polish Soldiers at the Lommel cemetery (Belgium) and Miners in Chorzów.

Condition of the object: awaiting renovation

Owner/guardian: The National Museum in Gdańsk

Author of the entry: Andrzej Zagrobelny