Edward Wittig (September 20, 1879 – March 3, 1941) 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 ...

and university professor, notable for designing many

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

s in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

. Born in Warsaw, Wittig went on to study

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

at the

Academy of Fine Arts Vienna The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna () is a public art school in Vienna, Austria. Founded in 1688 as a private academy, it is now a public university. The academy is also known for twice rejecting admission to a young Adolf Hitler in 1907 and 1908. ...

under the tutelage of J. Tautenheim between 1897 and 1900. He then moved to Paris, where he graduated from the

École des Beaux-Arts ; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centu ...

. His tutor there was Madeleine Jouvray, a pupil of

Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (; ; 12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a u ...

and Lucien Schnegg. One of his friends during this period was

Magnus Enckell Knut Magnus Enckell (9 November 1870 in Hamina – 27 November 1925 in Stockholm) was a Finnish symbolist painter. At first, he painted with a subdued palette, but from 1902 onwards, used increasingly bright colors. He was a leading member of the ...

. In 1909 he returned to Poland and settled in

Podolia Podolia or Podillia is a historic region in Eastern Europe located in the west-central and southwestern parts of Ukraine and northeastern Moldova (i.e. northern Transnistria). Podolia is bordered by the Dniester River and Boh River. It features ...

, in a residence owned by friends. There he prepared a number of sculptures, some of which were presented at the

Paris Salon The Salon (), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art event in the Western world. At the ...

. After 1903, he was invited to display his work at many top art galleries. His works were also featured at the Zachęta gallery in Warsaw (since 1900), at the Society of Friends of Fine Arts of

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

, and the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

in 1920 and 1934. Between 1915 and 1920, he was one of the professors of the

Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw () is a public university of visual arts and applied arts located in the Polish capital. The academy traces its history back to the Department of Arts founded at the Warsaw University in the Duchy of Warsaw in 18 ...

, and was subsequently a professor at the Warsaw University of Science and Technology. Initially a student of Rodin, in the early 1900s Wittig developed his own style, with stronger contrasts and less symbolism. Finally, prior to World War I his style became heavily influenced by

Aristide Maillol Aristide Joseph Bonaventure Maillol (; December 8, 1861 – September 27, 1944) was a French sculptor, painter, and printmaking, printmaker.Le Normand-Romain, Antoinette . "Maillol, Aristide". ''Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online''. Oxford ...

and the so-called New Classicism, which emphasised monumental, cubic, and rough silhouettes lacking detail. Among the first such sculptures is ''Eve'' of 1911, featured in both Trocadéro garden in Paris and the Park Ujazdowski in Warsaw. In the 1920s, Wittig's style became very popular in Poland and abroad, mostly due to its monumentalism, which was a leading trend in Polish architecture of the 1920s and 1930s. As a result of which he went on to create numerous monuments. Among the most notable is the monuments to

Polish Military Organization The Polish Military Organisation, PMO (, POW) was a secret military organization that was formed during World War I (1914–1918). Józef Piłsudski founded the group in August 1914. It adopted the name ''POW'' in November 1914 and aimed to gathe ...

in front of the Zachęta. It was destroyed by the Germans prior to the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...

, but reconstructed in 1999. Another notable work is the 1931 monument to World War I airmen. The Germans destroyed it by removing the sculpture from the top of its pedestal in 1940, but it was rebuilt in 1968 by Alfred Jesion. In 1932, Wittig also prepared the monument to

Juliusz Słowacki Juliusz Słowacki (; ; ; 4 September 1809 – 3 April 1849) was a Polish Romantic poet. He is considered one of the " Three Bards" of Polish literature — a major figure in the Polish Romantic period, and the father of modern Polish drama. Hi ...

, which was not erected until 2001, well after his death in Warsaw in 1941, during the Nazi and Soviet occupation of Poland.

References

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External links

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Hero of the Skies monument
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Ewa by Wittig with the picture of the Paris version
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wittig, Edward 1879 births 1941 deaths Polish sculptors Polish male sculptors Academic staff of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw Burials at Powązki Cemetery Academic staff of the Warsaw University of Technology Academy of Fine Arts Vienna alumni 20th-century Polish sculptors