Studio: international art (86.1923)

PRAGUE

MASK OF A CHILD
BY DUJAM PENIC

child which emerges from its matrix of
marble with startling naturalism. That
Penic has not remained uninfluenced by
the Jugo-Slav masters is seen in a low
relief panel called the Spirit of Sorrow,
which recalls the woodcarved panels of
Mestrovic, and his Ecstasy, a nude female
with the strange hair of some of the latter
artist’s figures, but with a classic grace
which he has never achieved. Another
seated nude is a notable work, and Penic
has made several portraits. K. P.

PRAGUE.—Among the sculptors of
C^echo-Slovakia is one who, on account
of his departure from conventional paths
of art, his great power and promise, stands
apart—a solitary and impressive figure we
should do well to watch. I refer to
T. Horejc. Some people may be inclined
to laugh, and do actually smile, at his eccen-
tricities and archaism, but no one really
interested in the work of those modern
artists who are striving to express some-
thing new can deny that beneath these

peculiarities there is great originality of
thought and that this sculptor is gifted with
a power of execution which makes his
work, when viewed as a whole, impressive
and worthy of close study. Horejc is bound
by none of the laws which are observed by
members of his craft: the anatomy and
musculature of his figures are incorrect
from an academic standpoint. Take his
statue of an Indian dancing girl as an
example. The long arms and elongated
body are out of all proportion to the rest
of the figure ; yet these very exaggerations
contribute to the success of the statue, the
whole object of which is to express the
strange contortions of an Eastern dancer
who is forgetful of everything save the wild
ecstasy of a native dance. This work is so
lacking in modern feeling that one might

"DAVID.” BY
T. HOREJC

357