Born: 20 June 1930, Poland
Died: 20 April 2017
Country most active: Poland, International
Also known as: Marta Magdalena Abakanowicz
The following is republished from the National Gallery of Art (US). This piece falls under under public domain, as copyright does not apply to “any work of the U.S. Government” where “a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. Government as part of that person’s official duties” (See, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101, 105).
Magdalena Abakanowicz, Puellae (Girls)
Polish artist Abakanowicz was a pioneer of fiber and installation art in the 1960s and ’70s. After gaining attention for her hanging textile “Abakans” (named for herself), she turned to making figural works. Abakanowicz created several works of headless figures in groups, like this sculpture.
She made these 30 headless bronze sculptures from individually sculpted wax forms based on a body cast of a single child model. Abakanowicz applied burlap to each form before casting it in bronze. Puellae refers to a tragic story about a group of children who froze to death while being transported in cattle cars from Poland to Germany during World War II. What she heard and saw as a child living in Poland under Nazi occupation, and later under a communist regime, deeply impacted the artist.