Davorin Vujčić STORIES ABOUT MONUMENTS Sketches and Models for the Monuments in the Permanent Exhibit of Antun Augustinčić Gallery Miner Pietà / Silesian Mother Two Fighters and Head of a Turk International Labour Organization, Geneva, 1939 Monument to the Silesian Uprising and Marshal Jozef Piłsudski, Katowice, 1936–1939 Monument to the Fallen Citizens of Niš, Niš, 1937 he figure of a miner wielding a pick T figure of the rebel that In 1936, Poland called an inter - is a modified national competition for the Monu- was part of Augustinčić’s ensemble Monument to the Silesian Uprising, ment to the Silesian Uprising and Mar- shal Jozef Piłsudski. In collaboration made for Katowice between 1936 and 1939. The model of the mon- he idea about erecting a monument with architect Drago Galić, Antun Au- T gustinčić won the first prize in a very ument (Photograph 1) shows three to the citizens of Niš who liberated the city strong competition. It was the first groupsBattle of rebel figures at the base. from the Turks emerged before World War time a Croatian sculptor won an in- The figure on the left, wielding a ri- I, but due to the Balkan Wars the founda- fle (Photograph 2), was Monumenta model for to Model of the Monument ternational competition. Augustinčić Photograph 1 tion stone was laid only in 1924. The work the Miner. Since the envisaged the memorial complex on to the Silesian Uprising and Marshal Jozef on the monument began in 1932 with a the Silesian Uprising was never fully (right) Figure of Rebel, Death in Villefranchea square plateau with steps, in which Piłsudski (Zabrze Museum, courtesy of Photograph 2 national competition specifying both the executed – only the equestrian stat- Łukasz Wyrzykowski, Katowice, GAA Photo four groups of figures surround a tall memorial fragment, plaster model (Zabrze type and the theme of the monument. In ue of Jozef Piłsudski was installed in Collection) Museum, courtesy of Łukasz Wyrzykowski, base with an equestrian statue on top 1934, a jury awarded three prizes: the first Katowice, Augustinčić developed the Katowice, GAA Photo Collection) (Photographs 1 and 2). The front of Monument to to Antun Augustinčić, the second to Risto figure ofModel the rifle-wielding for rebelthe into Monument the base features three groups of in- Stijović, and the third to Sreten Stojanović. a dedicationKing Alexander to a Zagorje, miner (Pho- surgents, while on the rear side Au- Due to difficulties in obtaining bronze at tographsto 4a andRas 4b). MäkonnenThe very con- gustinčić envisaged a Pietà, a scene Sombor, 1940 the time, the execution of the monument featuring a Silesian mother mourning was prolonged. The monument was un- her son (Photograph 3). The memori- veiled on 28 June 1937, on the occasion View of Liberation Square in Niš Photograph 1 al was to reach 17 metres in height, Photograph 4 The casting of the equestrian statue of the 60th anniversary of the liberation of of Marshal Piłsudski, Zagreb, 1939 (GAA Photo 1953 from the red granite base to the tophe original Battle relief was in- Collection) Photograph 1 Unveiling of Niš, at Liberation Square (Trg oslobođe- T of the equestrian figure. Bycorporated the year in the Photographsside of the 1 baseand 2 ofModel the of the Monument to Monument to King Alexander in the Silesian Uprising and Marshal Jozef Piłsudski nja), wherehe summarily it continues shaped to stand figure to thisof a day 1939, Augustinčić completed all the Sombor, 21 July 1940 (courtesy of mutineerT – hands tied in front and head equestrian Monument(Zabrze to Museum, King Alexander courtesy of ,Łukasz Wyrzykowski, Sombor City Museum, GAA Photo (Photograph 1). At the time it was installed Katowice; GAA Photo Collection) covered with a hood, standing barefoot, figures, in life size, with theinstalled help inof Sombor in 1940 in honour Collection) Monument to Ras Mäkonnen, Harar, 1959 it was known as the biggest and most beau- legs apart, awaiting execution – is Au- sculptors Grga Antunac andof King Dragu Alexander- I (Karađorđević) the tiful monument in Yugoslavia and the first gustinčić’s model for the monument to the tin Filipović. The equestrianUnifier, statue the offirst ruler of the Kingdom of realistic monument in the Balkans. mutiny of Croats in Villefranche-de-Rouer Polish Marshal Jozef PiłsudskiYugoslavia (Pho -and supreme commander of The total height of the monument is 11 gue, France (Photograph 1). Augustinčić’s tograph 4) was the only figurethe army to bethat liberated Sombor in 1918. metres. It includes a base with reliefs and model was never made into a monument Herald cast in bronze. After WorldThe War monument, II had unveiled on 21 July 1940 an equestrian statue on top, where- Stevan broken out, the work on the memo- and the Croats’ mutiny at Villefranche was (Photographs 1 and 2), consisted of an up- Sinđelić is symbolically depicted as rial was suspended, and the figure of as (an Ethiopian title of duke) commemorated with a memorial by Vanja right cuboid base with an equestrian stat- of Victory, facing south, that is, arriving in Piłsudski was not delivered to Poland. R Radauš, which was executed years later. ue on top. The equestrian statue represent- Photograph 5Mäkonnen Equestrian statue(Photograph of Marshal 1) Piłsudski was an Ethiopi- 9 the city from the north, from the free part One of the best equestrian sculptures in the Gallery patio (GAA Photo Collection) ed King Alexander as a hatless horseman an military leader who established a name In agreement with the leadership of Miner in front of the central office building of the International Labour Organization in Geneva (photo by J. Maillard, © the NDH [World Warof SerbiaII Independent (Photographs State 2 and 3). The base, in this part of the world spent years in military uniform, holding the reins with for himself during the First Ethiopian-ItalPhotograph- 3 (down) made of Jablanica granite, consists of two in Augustinčić’s studio in Zagreb, of Croatia], Nazi Germany established his left hand, curbing a strong horse, and ian war, when he defeated the InternationalItalian army Labour- Organization) Photograph 3 Pietà on the model of the monument a Croat division withinparts: the SS the (Handžar lower part is a horizontal cuboid and once the Gallery in Klanjec was 5 under the command of PhotographGeneral Baratieri 2 Sombor postcard holding a sword high in his right hand. (Zabrze Museum, courtesy of Łukasz Wyrzykowski,issued on the occasion of unveiling Division or the 1st Croat withDivision), a shallow which bronze relief on each of opened in 1976, it was placed in the Katowice, GAA Photoat Adwa Collection) on 1 March 1896. Ras Mäkonnen Monument to the Fallen Citizens ofThe Niš monument stood at Liberation Square of the monument (courtesy of was initially populated withthe Muslims four sides, from while the upper part is an was father of Ras Tafari Mäkonnen, emper Photographs 2 and 3 (Trg oslobođenja), opposite the entrance Sombor City Museum, GAA Photo Bosnia and Herzegovina. Sinceupright recruit cuboid- on which bronze figures or known as Haile Selassie.Collection) It was Emperor to the so-called City House (Photographs 7 ment was not met with the desireddepicted re -in combat scenes form a frieze Haile Selassie who, during his visit to Yu- Peace 3 and 4). On the two sides of the stone sponse, recruits were eventuallyaround forced the to base. goslavia and Josip Broz Tito in 1954, came Augustinčić’s model for base stood two Augustinčić’s bronze re- join. As part of training for combat against up with the idea to erect monuments in Photograph 3 liefs. One showed King Alexander arriv- Monument to Ras Mäkonnen is Carrying the Wounded partisan units in Bosnia and Herzegovi- Ethiopia. the monument to Mäkonnen (GAA Photo ing in Sombor, while the other depicted a Collection) na, the recruits were first transferred to the last of the three monuments that Antun Ras Mäkonnen (http://myspace. scene of a battle between Serbs and Turks a training site in Germany and then to Augustinčić and Frano Kršinić executed in Photograph 1 France. The Division headquarters was in Kosovo, in a dynamic compositionSpinner of Ethiopia together, as commissioned by the com) situated in Mende, some of the troops intertwined equestrian figures. Ministry of Public Works and Transport of were based in Rodez, and some in Ville- In 1941 Sombor was occupied by the Empire of Ethiopia. In his article “Antun Augustinčić and franche-de-Rouergue. Hungarian troops who, under Miklós Hor- The mutiny of the recruits broke out UN Headquarters, New York, 1954 thy, fought on the German side. Horthy’s Frano Kršinić’s Joint Work” (Anali Galerije primarily due to the Nazi officers’ cruel- soldiers dismantled the monument and Antuna Augustinčića 5. Klanjec, 1985), Monument to the Victims of Fascism, ty and the intention to transfer the Croat stored it in stables at the town outskirts. Maro Grbić states: “After months of nego- troops to the Eastern Front instead of send- tiations on the appearance of the monu- Viktorovac Cemetery, Sisak, 1965 After World War II, the new authorities ing them back to the NDH territory, as - cut up the bronze sculpture into pieces, ment, Augustinčić and Kršinić prepared Monument to the Victims of Fascism, Although the theme of the sculp- had initially been agreed. The mutineers which then disappeared. ture twoentitled, models and sent them to Addis Aba- came into contact with members of the lo- the humanenessba (PhotographsCarrying of the 2–3).fighters the WoundedHaving during considered the, is After World War II, the UN Gener Antun Augustinčić GalleryAddis owned theAbaba, 1955 cal Resistance Movement, who promised anti-fascistboth struggle, models, the the roots Ministry of the decided com- what al Assembly decidedPhotograph that the 1UN head- plaster models of the Battle relief and the the figure of Mäkonnen on horseback Augustinčić – Kršinić: Model for Tošo Dabac, GAA Photo Collection) position lie in the Christian motif of the quarters would be in the UnitedAntun States Augustinčić: Death in Villefranche – Model for the Monument (photo by Photograph 4 Deposition fromshould the look Cross, like.