Henryk Kuna (c.1885 – 17 December 1945) was a Polish

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

, active in the early twentieth century. His long career produced many famous works of arts including several renowned public monuments in his native country of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

Life

Henryk Kuna was born to a Jewish family in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

in 1885 or possibly earlier (various sources give his year of birth as far back as 1879). Kuna studied art at the

Academy of Fine Arts The following is a list of notable art schools. Accredited non-profit art and design colleges * Adelaide Central School of Art * Alberta College of Art and Design * Art Academy of Cincinnati * Art Center College of Design * The Art Institute ...

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

where he met fellow artists who would become lifelong friends. Many of them became deeply involved in Kuna's informal school of art known as ''Rytm'' (Rhythm). The group focused on the development of a Polish national style melding modernity with classicism. Kuna was a well-established artist in his time. He was appointed, along with the artists

Teodor Axentowicz Teodor Axentowicz ( Armenian: Թեոդոր Աքսենտովիչ; 13 May 1859 in Brașov, Austrian Empire – 26 August 1938 in Kraków, Second Polish Republic) was a Polish- Armenian painter and university professor. A renowned artist of his times ...

Julian Fałat Julian Fałat, (30 July 1853 in Tuligłowy near Lwów – 9 July 1929 in Bystra Śląska) was one of the most prolific Polish painters of watercolor and one of the country's foremost landscape painters as well as one of the leading Polish im ...

and others, to represent Poland at the XII

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

in 1920. Kuna's fame flourished further with a well-received solo exhibition in London two years later. Kuna died in the northern city of

Toruń )'' , image_skyline = , image_caption = , image_flag = POL Toruń flag.svg , image_shield = POL Toruń COA.svg , nickname = City of Angels, Gingerbread city, Copernicus Town , pushpin_map = Kuyavian-Pom ...

in 1945. He was interred in Warsaw's historic

Powązki Cemetery Powązki Cemetery (; pl, Cmentarz Powązkowski), also known as Stare Powązki ( en, Old Powązki), is a historic necropolis located in Wola district, in the western part of Warsaw, Poland. It is the most famous cemetery in the city and one of t ...

Works

Kuna was chosen for a project to sculpt a statue of Polish national hero

Adam Mickiewicz Adam Bernard Mickiewicz (; 24 December 179826 November 1855) was a Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator and political activist. He is regarded as national poet in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. A principal figure in Polish Ro ...

for the city of

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

in the early 1930s. His work progressed on a number of bas reliefs, evocative of the romantic themes of Mickiewicz's writing, which were to surround the statue. When the Nazis invaded in 1939, the monument site was largely destroyed by a bomb, and under their occupation many of the bas reliefs were hauled off to a cemetery as paving stones. A new sculpture by Gediminas Jokūbonis was unveiled in 1984 with Kuna's surviving bas reliefs emplaced around it. In the turbulent 1980s and 1990s, the site was a popular meeting place for political dissidents. Kuna's most iconic work, the lifesize female nude ''Rytm'' (Rhythm, 1925), seemingly sways waterside in the

Praga Południe Praga is a district of Warsaw, Poland. It is on the east bank of the river Vistula. First mentioned in 1432, until 1791 it formed a separate town with its own city charter. History The historical Praga was a small settlement located at ...

district of Warsaw. Another female figure, ''Alina'', stands amid a fountain at

Stefan Żeromski Stefan Żeromski ( ; 14 October 1864 – 20 November 1925) was a Polish novelist and dramatist belonging to the Young Poland movement at the turn of the 20th century. He was called the "conscience of Polish literature". He also wrote under ...

Park in the Żoliborz district. Among Kuna's other works are ''Jutrzenka'' (Daybreak, 1919); ''Rozowy marmur'' (Pink Marble, 1930); and ''Portraits of K.R Witkowski'' (1930). In 1930, Kuna was awarded the Officer's Cross of the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta ( pl, Order Odrodzenia Polski, en, Order of Restored Poland) is a Polish state order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on foreigners for outstanding achievement ...

and, in 1935, the Golden Laurel of the Polish Academy of Literature. Polish pavilion in Paris 1925 courtyard.jpg, ''Rytm'' (Paris, 1925) Rytm-Park Skaryszewski.jpg, ''Rytm'' (Warsaw, 1925) Rytm2.jpg, ''Rytm'' (detail), Warsaw

Life

Works

References

Further reading