Jan Stursa

Jan Štursa was a celebrated Czech Modernist. When WWI broke out, Štursa served on the front lines, which affected him deeply. Derived from sketches of companions trapped on the wire, this sculpture was a monument to the horrors and trauma of the war.

One of the founders of modern Czech sculpture, Jan Štursa was born on the 15th of May 1880 in Nové Město na Moravě. He graduated from the Hořice school in 1898 with excellent results, and soon after travelled to work in Germany. In 1899 he was accepted to the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague into the studio of professor Josef Václav Myslbek..After graduating from the Academy in 1904 he worked in his studio in Na Maninách, Prague, where, under the influence of symbolism and art nouveau, he sought to capture the internal life of man ( Life flees (Život uniká) (1904), Pubescense (Puberta) (1905), Melancholy girl (Melancholické děvče) (1906). It was in this period that he created the sculpture Song of the Heights (Píseň hor) (1905) for the Nové Město fountain, which was supposed to be, in his own words, “A reminder of the vanishing peculiarities and customs of the region”.

From 1908 until the start of the First World War he worked at the Academy as Myslbek’s assistant, a common subject of his work from this time being the mature female form.

During the First World War he served in the 81st regiment, first in Jihlava and later on the eastern front at Halič, before being bestowed a professorship at the Academy in 1916 freed him from his millitary obligations. Initally he led the medalion crafting school before becoming Myslbek’s successor in 1919. In 1922 he became rector of the Academy, a position he held until 1924. In pieces from this period such as Memorial for the fallen (Pomník padlým) (1918) or Wounded (Raněný) (1921) he sought to come to terms with his harrowing experiences from the war.