Walrus Sculpture

Technique: sculpture, grey granite

Dimensions: approx. 2 m (height of the sculpture)

Object: The sculpture is comprised of three stacked blocks of grey granite located in the centre of a shallow, kidney-shaped fountain basin (with the jets directed from the sides of the basin towards the sculpture). The author’s initials “AŁ” and the date 1966 are engraved on the sculpture’s lower part. According to accounts collected from the artist’s friends, the suggestive phallic form of the sculpture was a joke by the author.

Place: The fountain has been working on the square between Szeroka and Świętojańska Streets (now Świętopełka Square) from 1966. Łosowski’s sculpture is a gift from the artist to the city of Gdańsk.

Information about the author: Alfons Łosowski (04 Jan 1908–27 Jun 1988). Born in Orkiewicze in the Novogrudok region (currently in Belarus). He graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the S. Báthory University in Vilnius under the supervision of Prof. Kuna, Mikenas and Aleksandrowicz.

During the war, he was a Home Army soldier of the Vilnius district. After the war, he settled in Gdańsk. Until 1955, he was working on reconstructing sculptures as part of the Gdańsk Old Town restoration. He brought back to life sculptures decorating many façades of the most famous tenement houses, all based on modest, surviving photographic documentation. In 1955, he started independent creative work in his studio at 11/13 Mariacka Street.

He authored several outdoor sculptures within the Gdańsk area, which he donated to the city in 1966, as well as many sculptures in public buildings in Poland, in museums and private collections. Granite and wood were his primary working materials. He created a distinctive style that combined organic form with a natural stone texture.

Condition of the object: good

Owner: city of Gdańsk

Author of the entry: Kora Kowalska