Anxiety, 1911-12.

Whenever I come across a Cubist sculpture by Otto Gutfreund in a Czech gallery or museum, I take some time to appreciate the personal feelings that come to mind as I study the masterful figures. While I was perusing the impressive collection of Gutfreund’s works in Prague’s Kampa Museum, I was reminded that this was not the only style he employed in his career. As I studied the creations by Gutfreund there, I mused over the legendary sculpture’s career and the tragedy that befell him.

Lovers (Embracing Figures), 1913-14, bronze

Born in Dvůr Králové nad Labem in Bohemia during 1889, Gutfreund studied drawing and porcelain painting in Prague before turning to sculpture. In Paris his mentor was Antoine Bourdelle. Gutfreund was greatly influenced by the works of Auguste Rodin, whom he knew personally. While in Paris, he also became fascinated with Gothic art and nature. His travels then took him to England, Belgium and the Netherlands. He became immersed in the Cubist style after 1910 as he simplified natural forms into geometric shapes and showed objects and figures from multiple perspectives.

Cellist (Cello Player), 1912-13, bronze.

He made a name for himself as a Cubist guru with his first sculpture in this style, “Anxiety,” of 1911-12. Gutfreund joined the Group of Creative Artists around this time. This emotional and expressive work is my favorite as it stresses the sheer angst and fear that can be debilitating and personally destructive. It reminds me of the anxiety shown in works by Egon Schiele and the German Expressionists of the 1920s. I also see similarities to the emotion-immersed sculptures of František Bílek, a Czech Art Nouveau and Symbolist artist.

Cubist bust, 1913-14, bronze

Some of Gutfreund’s most renowned early Cubist works include his renditions of Don Quixote and Hamlet. Then, becoming more and more inspired by Picasso, he moved to Paris, where he met that artist as well as Apollinaire, to name a few.

World War I brought many changes to Gutfreund’s life. He became a soldier for the Foreign Legion in France and took part in the Battle of the Somme. He wound up in prison during 1916 and wasn’t released until three years later.

Viki, 1912-13, bronze

Two months after being freed, he moved back to Prague and was lauded as a sculptor of the social civilism style, which emphasized the everyday and was very realistic, nothing like the expressive Cubist movement in which he had participated before the war.

In the early 1920s, he received some big commissions. At this time, he created the monument to 19^th century writer Božena Němcová in Ratibořice. The sculptural grouping showed off characters in Němcová’s stellar novel, The Grandmother, a 19^th century Czech classic.

Industry, Study (sculpture on the right), 1923.

From 1922 to 1923, Gutfreund decorated the Legiobanka Building in Prague with a relief called “The Legions’ Return,” cooperating with renowned Czech architect Josef Gočár. In 1924 he designed a life-size statue of the first president of Czechoslovakia, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk in Hradec Králové. I greatly admired likenesses of the first Czechoslovak president. Gutfreund held art shows, adding to his résumé of artistic mastery. During 1926 he became a professor of sculpture at Prague’s College of Decorative Arts, and Americans had the chance to admire his works in a New York City exhibition.

Fighters (A Fight, Wrestlers), 1924, bronze.

Unfortunately, his life was short-lived. On June 2, 1927, he drowned in the Vltava River in Prague. He accomplished so much in such a short time. If he had lived, there is no telling how much he could have influenced the Czechoslovak and world art scene. Gutfreund is buried in Prague.

At the Museum Kampa visitors can see a collection of both his Cubist and realistic sculptures as Otto Gutfreund lives on through his incredible art. It is worth traveling to Ratibořice to see the stunning chateau and park dedicated to Němcová and 19th century country life as well as the impressive statuary grouping by Gutfreund. Admirers of sculpture and architecture are sure to be amazed by Prague’s Legiobanka Building in the center of the city.

Tracy A. Burns is a writer, proofreader and editor in Prague.

Statuary grouping from Němcová’s book The Grandmother, by Otto Gutfreund, in Ratibořice