Willy Gordon (July 2, 1918 – July 12, 2003) was a Swedish

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

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

. Gordon's public artworks are displayed in a number of cities in Sweden.

Life

Gordon was born at Ringen in the Russian

gubernia A governorate (, , ) was a major and principal administrative subdivision of the Russian Empire. After the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, governorates remained as subdivisions in the Byelorussian, Russian and Ukrainian Soviet republics, and i ...

Courland Courland is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia. Courland's largest city is Liepāja, which is the third largest city in Latvia. The regions of Semigallia and Selonia are sometimes considered as part of Courland as they were ...

(present day ,

Ruba Parish Ruba Parish () is an administrative unit of Saldus Municipality in the Semigallia region of Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, alo ...

, Saldus Municipality,

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

) and later emigrated with his family to

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

when he was seven years old. He studied

sculpture 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 ...

by Nils Sjögren, at the Royal University College of Fine Arts () in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

and later with

Ossip Zadkine Ossip Alexeevich Zadkine (; 28 January 1888 – 25 November 1967) was a Russian and French artist of the School of Paris. He is best known as a sculptor, but also produced paintings and lithographs. Early years and education Zadkine was born o ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Art

Public sculptures

Gordon was active in Stockholm for a major part of his life, and there about a dozen of his public sculptures can be found. For example, "Wives" in the Fruängen centre (1968), "Living ore" in Karlavägen street in the district of

Östermalm Östermalm (; "Eastern city-borough") is a 2.56 km2 large district in central Stockholm, Sweden. With 71,802 inhabitants, it is one of Sweden's most populous and exclusive districts. It is an extremely expensive area, having the highest ho ...

in Stockholm, and "Flight with the

Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

" outside the Great Synagogue of Stockholm. In Malmö a monument, created by Gordon, is installed at the cemetery to commemorate all the victims of the Holocaust. Gordon's sculpture "The meeting" () also known as "Man with piece of meat - lying woman" ()Willy Gordon on artnet auction house
/ref> is installed in

Östermalmstorg Östermalmstorg is a square in the district of Östermalm, in Stockholm, Sweden. It is known principal for Östermalm Market Hall (''Östermalmshallen'') which first opened in 1889. Östermalmshallen's interior is a marketplace for food and ...

square in Stockholm. It is a pair sculptures: a naked male figure bearing a piece of meat on his shoulders before a recumbent female figure. Gordon also produced "The meeting" in miniature in limited numbers. He also donated a copy to Bommersvik college in Sweden, where it is displayed in its art collection. Many of Gordon's works such as "Mötet" are highly stylised, influenced by Zadkine and also by other sculptors such as Eric Grate and

Henry Moore Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi-abstract art, abstract monumental Bronze sculpture, bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. Moore ...

Portrait statues

He also created statues of famous people, including singer

Jussi Björling Johan Jonatan "Jussi" Björling ( , ; 5 February 19119 September 1960) was a Swedish tenor. One of the leading operatic singers of the 20th century, Björling appeared for many years at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City and less frequentl ...

that is exhibited at the Björling Museum in

Borlänge Borlänge () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality in Dalarna County, Sweden, with 44,898 inhabitants as of 2020. It is the seat of the Borlänge Municipality which as of 2017 had a total population of 51,604 inhabitants. History Originally Bor ...

,Björling Museum Tour
/ref> musician

Evert Taube Axel Evert Taube (; 12 March 1890 – 31 January 1976) was a Swedish author, artist, composer and singer. He is widely regarded as one of Sweden's most respected musicians and the foremost troubadour of the Swedish ballad tradition in the 20th c ...

(''Evert Taube playing the lute'') (1990) at the Evert Taube terrace in

Riddarholmen Riddarholmen (, "The Knights' Islet") is a small islet in central Stockholm, Sweden. The island forms part of Gamla Stan, the old town, and houses a number of private palaces dating back to the 17th century. The main landmark is the church Riddarh ...

, and a sculpture of Nobel prize laureate

Selma Lagerlöf Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf (, , ; 20 November 1858 – 16 March 1940) was a Swedish writer. She published her first novel, ''Gösta Berling's Saga'', at the age of 33. She was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, which she was ...

called ''The Crystal of Pain'' (Swedish: ''Smärtans Kristall'') in Farsta. Gordon also created a monument in honour of Swedish diplomat

Raoul Wallenberg Raoul Gustaf Wallenberg (4 August 1912 – disappeared 17 January 1945)He is presumed to have died in 1947, although the circumstances of his death are not clear and this date has been disputed. Some reports claim he was alive years later. In ...

Lidingö Lidingö (), also known in its definite form Lidingön and as Lidingölandet, is an island in the inner Stockholm archipelago, northeast of Stockholm, Sweden. In 2023, the population of the Lidingö urban area on the island was 48,162. It is the ...

, an island off Stockholm. Jewish Chronicle (Sweden)
/ref> Wallenberg is famous for saving tens of thousands of

Hungarian Jews The history of the Jews in Hungary dates back to at least the Kingdom of Hungary, with some records even predating the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin in 895 CE by over 600 years. Written sources prove that Jewish communities lived ...

during

The Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

Science

Willy Gordon also created sculptures of a scientific motif such as

crystal A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macros ...

s and molecules. For example, he created the sculpture of a

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...

molecule A molecule is a group of two or more atoms that are held together by Force, attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions that satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemi ...

: ''Carrier molecule,'' that depicts a protein chain. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences Vol.146 Page 364 June 1968 Chemistry, Pharmacology, and Clinical Applications of Proteinase Inhibitors THE CHEMISTRY OF PROTEASES by Birger Blombäck (by subscription)
/ref>

International recognition

In 1990 together with the architect Tsila Zak he won a competition for a monument in the

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

n capital of

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

for the purpose of honouring its

Jewish culture Jewish culture is the culture of the Jewish people, from its formation in ancient times until the current age. Judaism itself is not simply a faith-based religion, but an orthopraxy and Ethnoreligious group, ethnoreligion, pertaining to deed, ...

. The project, The Jewish Memorial Center in Vilnius, is situated on the site of the Shulhof and the Great Synagogue of Vilna.

Publications

* Willy Gordon: ''Willy Gordon sculpture et dessins 1941-1951'', catalogue, 24 p. * ''Willy Gordon'' (autobiography) (edited by June Rose; designed by Willy's wife Mona Gordon), Meta Bokproduktion, 112 p. chiefly ill., ports. 21 x 21 cm. c1976. Hebrew University SYSNO: 2220000.The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Book catalog entry on Willy Gordon
/ref> *Gordon, W. (1976). Willy Gordon. Järna: Meta Bokproduktion, Worldcat listing
/ref>

References

External links

Wallenberg monument at www.lidingo.se "Rågskörd" (1968) at LorenborgThe Hebrew University of Jerusalem Book catalog entry on Willy Gordon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Willy 1918 births 2003 deaths Swedish male sculptors Swedish modern sculptors Latvian modern sculptors Swedish Jews Jewish sculptors Royal Institute of Art alumni Latvian emigrants to Sweden Latvian Jews 20th-century Swedish sculptors