The red abstract sculpture consists of a metal frame to which roughly semicircular metal plates are attached. It represents just one of the areas of activity of Jerzy Jarnuszkiewicz, also known as the author of monuments, intimate sculpture (Little Insurgent of 1946, cast as a monument in 1983), medals or ex-libris plates. The artist was primarily involved in geometric sculpture in the 1960s, when he was creating compositions using found objects or metal sheets and rods (such as the work in question). Critics consider them to be the most important part of Jarnuszkiewicz’s oeuvre. They were not metaphorical in nature; their function was rather to order and organise the space. The scale of the composition in question indicates that it is a mock-up. As an example of a realised work of this type, one can mention Signpost Composition created during the 1st Biennial of Spatial Forms in Elblag (1965). In 1967, Edward F. Fry’s exhibition Sculpture from Twenty Nations at the Guggenheim Museum in New York (it was shown in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal in 1968) highlighted the similarly styled composition Rhythms II (1966). The director of the museum described it as an outstanding achievement of European constructivism and expressed a desire to add the work to the collection, to which the artist unfortunately did not agree.

Karolina Zychowicz

translated by Paulina Bożek