Page:Czecho-Slovak Student Life, Volume 18.djvu/307

merce Weekly” attest: “A commanding and interesting figure is the creation of Albin Polášek. The sculptor has sought to embody for the land of his own birth the conception of a great and powerful friend, a statesman of benevolence and vision. The mien is authoritative and intellectual, the hands protective, the sculptural method monumental and dependable.” The same periodical refers to the statue, when it shall have been installed in its place in Prague, as being “among the notable memorials of Europe.”

“‘Unfettered’, a sculpture of a young girl seeming ready to take flight, is the most graceful and spontaneous accomplishment that Mr. Polášek has shown among many worthy productions. In this work which won the Mr. and Mrs. Frank Logan gold medal and $1,500, the sculptor has succeeded in attaining something which hitherto eluded him.” Thus Lena M. McCauley, art critic, characterizes another of Mr. Polášek’s works. In this opinion, the Rev. Emil Polášek, in a letter to the Student Life editor, seems to concur. Others have advanced the claim that it is the artist’s greatest work. Yet, it seems to us, Mr. Polášek’s art is so varied, and “Unfettered” is so little typical of his work, that to compare it, for instance, with his “Spirit of Music” would be like comparing, in another art, Schubert with Brahms. Each is, in its own way, practically perfect. True, the former work excels in lightness, in grace, in spontaneity. Moreover, its simplicity is much in its favor. It is an exquisite little lyric in bronze. Its very excellences, however, deny it the breadth, the depth, and what might be called the epic massiveness of the latter.

The “Spirit of Music” is the main piece of the Theodore Thomas Memorial in Grant Park, Chicago. The figure is of heroic proportions and stands almost sixteen feet high. Mr. Polášek said of this figure. “Music is divine and in this figure which represents my conception of Music, I wished to give that idea. I have tried to show that it is divine, a positive thing, not a hope or a faith. So I wanted Music to be dignified, yet simple; assertive, but not bold; a feminine figure, yes, but yet not too feminine.” So far for the idea; of the execution the picture gives a fairly good conception. The relief on the rounded base sheds an interesting light on the artist’s temperament. It represents Orpheus with his lyre, charming wild beasts. But the beasts are not European or African, they are American animals, the moose, the grizzly bear, and the buffalo. “This is a memorial for an American and I wished it to be typically American in treatment,” said Mr. Polášek to his interviewer. This incident reveals the amazing originality and independence of mind of the man and explains the “why” of some of his works. In its strength and grace the figure stands about midway between “Unfettered” and the “Sower”.

The “Sower,” on exhibition at the Chicago Art Institute, seems the very expression of physical