Boleslaw Biegas (1877-1954) Polish Sculptor 1913 Bronze Bust Of Fellow Polish Artist, Olga Boznanska

{self arranged packing & shipping or free in house pick up} 23" tall X 18" wide X 14 1/2" deep by renowned Paris foundry Claude Valsuani, Paris "Circ Perdue" (Lost Wax Casting) - This larger than life Art Nouveau bust of Olga Boznanska 1865 -1940 (SEE BIO BELOW) is characteristic of Biegas early Art Nouveau period with great realistic details balanced by the natural rough finish on the reverse base - Biegas bronzes regularly sell from $4,000 to $25,000 !!! Early orphaned by both parents, as a child Boleslaw Biegas displayed artistic talent. Biegas began his sculpture lessons with the help of priest Aleksander Rzewnicki. After a short practice in Antoni Panasiuk’s sculpture studio in Warsaw, he returned to his hometown Koziczyn. Then the young artist was taken care of by Doctor Franciszek Rajowski who sent him to school and guaranteed him artistic freedom. Works of the young artist were presented to Aleksander Swietochowski, philosopher and writer, who organized Biegas’ first exhibition in the Wende’s bookstore in Warsaw. Biegas was developing his technical skills during his studies at the School of Fine Arts in Krakow in 1897-1901. At that time he remained in the custody of Professor Odon Budwij, who had a huge impact on the artist’s intellectual development. First Biegas was learning sculpture techniques in Alfred Daun's studio, next under Konstanty Laszczka's supervision. He gradually started abandoning the style corresponding to a mode of academic teaching. Instead, he began creating modern sculptures with simple and geometrical forms. Biegas also remained under the influence of the decadent and symbolist trends, popularized in Krakow by Stanislaw Przybyszewski. In 1901 he was expelled from the university for the sculpture entitled Book of Life, which was surrounded by the atmosphere of scandal. In the same year his works were displayed in the Xth Vienna Secession Exhibition. The scholarship from the Warszawskie Towarzystwo Zachety Sztuk Pieknych enabled him to move to Paris, where he met his new patrons, Henryk and Jadwiga Trütschel, the barony. However, he did not take the courses at the Ecole de Beaux-Arts, instead, he abandoned formal education to the development of his own creative activity. From the year about 1900 he exhibited mainly in the following salons of art: Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Salon d'Automne and Salon des indépendants. Works created by Biegas were also presented on the individual exhibitions, including Parisian Galerie des Artistes Modernes, Galerie Andre Seligmann, Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Galerie Arts et Artistes Anglais, galleries in London, St. Petersburg and Kiev. His exhibitions have been widely discussed by eminent critics such as: Guillaume Apollinaire, Emile Verhaeren, André Fontaines or Louis Vauxcelles. And his artistry continued to thrive until his passing In 1954. I believe Biegas and Boznanska met in Paris in the early 1900s and this is the second bronze that Biegas made of her. OLGA BOZNANSKA; From 1886–1890 she studied art in the private schools of Karl Kricheldorf and Wilhelm Dürr in Munich - as women were not yet permitted at the Munich Academy. From then on she devoted herself mostly to portraits, still lifes and occasionally landscapes. She became well connected within the Polish artistic community of Munich, notably Józef Brandt who became her mentor. Her 1893 Portrait of Paul Nauen obtained her first public success - being awarded the gold medal at the International Exhibition in Vienna the following year. In 1898, she joined the Society of Polish owarzystwo Literacko-Artystyczne).