Wojciech Aleksander DUREK, PORTRET MARIA CHMURKOWSKA, ca. 1925

Sculpture in art deco style
Bronze, 56 x 19 x 19 cm
Engraved signature: W A DUREK
A superb sculpture in the art deco style by an artist who worked primarily in the spirit of symbolism and neo-romanticism close to the Milanese school of Medardo Rosso. His sculpture Salome with the head of John the Baptist was offered at the 32nd auction of the Ostoya Auction House (14.02.2004).
Asking price 55000
Estimate 65000 - 70000
Wojciech Aleksander DUREK
1888 Mała - 1951 Kielce
Polish sculptor and painter. He studied art at the Higher Industrial School in Cracow, continued his studies at a vocational school in Laas, Tyrol, and at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Milan, from which he graduated in 1911. He also had a sculpture apprenticeship in Graz (1915). Between the wars he lived in Torun, where he was active in the local Artists' Confraternity. For a time he ran a joint studio with the friendly artist Ignacy Zelk - the "Rzeźba" atelier. He left Torun around 1930. After World War II, he settled in Kielce.
He presented his works in public many times. He had exhibitions in Krakow (1920), Warsaw (1920), Torun (1922, 1928), Bydgoszcz (1924), Lublin (1931), Kielce (1945, 1949), among others. Maciej Szukiewicz wrote the following about him in 1920 in a review with the telling title "Is this the birth of Polish sculpture?": In each of his sculptures a great ease of conception and striving for composition shines through, that is, for what we have hardly seen in Polish sculpture to date. An artist such as W. Durek, who has, in addition to a degree in architecture, knowledge of all techniques in wood, stucco, marble and bronze, settles in the country to give him a moustache of work and incalculable talent.
He was the creator of mainly monumental and religious sculptures. Among others, he made sculptures for 12 chapels of the calvary in Wielu near Koscierzyna (1915-1924), the Moniuszko monument in Torun (1923), a monument in honor of the fallen soldiers of the 8. Toruń sapper regiment in Toruń (1928), a statue of Christ the King in Queen Jadwiga Square in Chojnice (1931), a bas-relief in the chapel of the Virgin Mary in Chelmza (1932), a sculptural complex on the garrison grounds in Komorowo (1932-1933), a monumental sculpture of Christ the King in Mała (1936), sculptures in the bishop's park in Pelplin (1937) a monument to those murdered in 1939 in Chelmza.
Maria Chmurkowska (1901-1973) theater and film actress. After graduating from school, she went to Vilna, where she acted in T. Powszechny and T. Polski. Then she returned to Warsaw (T. Praski), also played in Lublin, Grodno (1924-25, 1936-37) , Lodz, Grudziądz, Poznan. In 1931 she settled in Warsaw. She played in Qui Pro Quo, Mirage, T. Letni, Wielka Rewia and others. Since 1932, she increasingly performed as a stage artist and even before the war earned the title of the best Polish monologist. During the occupation she performed in open theaters: Ul, Maska, Nowości. She worked in the underground as a liaison officer for the ZWZ-AK. During the Warsaw Uprising, she was a nurse in an insurgent hospital and left the burning city with the wounded. After the war she performed primarily as a stage actress, delivering monologues, often of her own authorship. She worked with theaters in the capital, and also appeared in the programs Podwieczorek przy mikrofonie and Karuzela warszawska. She has starred in films: He Loves, Likes, Respects (1934), His Great Love (1936), Bolek and Lolek (1936), 30 Carats of Happiness (1936), I Lied (1937), Lucky Thirteen (1938), A Girl Looking for Love (1938), Krystyna's Lie (1939), Adam's Two Ribs (1963), Strong Strike (1966).