Artist:
Jaroslav Róna
Title:
Franz Kafka
Year:
2003
Adress:
Dušní, Josefov
www.waymarking.com:
The Franz Kafka Monument was unveiled in Prague on December 4, 2003. Commemorating one of the world's greatest writers and the famous native of Prague.
This bronze sculpture by Czech sculptor Jaroslav Róna stands between Prague's Church of the Holy Spirit and its Spanish Synagogue. The statue is 3.75 meters high and weighs 700 kilos. Cast by Miloš Vacek's Bronze Foundry, it was designed by Jaroslav Róna and made in conjunction with the Architectural Studio of David Vávra. The construction of the Franz Kafka monument in Prague is a project of the Franz Kafka Society.
This interesting metal statue is based on a vivid description that appears in Franz Kafka's early short story"Description of a Struggle." Kafka wrote of a young man riding on another man's shoulders through the streets of Prague. In Rona's work, that figure is Kafka himself sitting astride a headless man.
This monument is a very successful realization of the current sculpture art in public open space. As a matter of fact, the placement of the monument in an old built-up area, on a terrain break and on the boundary line of Josefov - a former Jewish town and Prague Old Town, symbolize in a way also Kafka's situation of a German writing Jewish author in the Czech environment. The setting of the monument on a small space is fortunate and in a de facto manner strengthens the absurd humor that the sculpture contains. The sculpture itself is a kind of paraphrase of an equestrian statue - Kafka sits on an empty suit and is drifted to an unknown place.
www.jaroslav-rona.cz:
His design was a sculpture made up of two bodies. When we look at it closer we find out that the lower part is only an empty men's suit (jacket and trousers). This suit bears a figure of Franz Kafka on its shoulders (as a small child). One hand is resting on his thigh while the other is bent in 90° angle and is pointing his index finger directly forward.
According the sculptor's explanation, the work was inspired by Kafka's famous novelette Popis jednoho zápasu (Description of one match). This separated design was inspired by the spiritual separation that the author reveals in his texts. The novelette is about one character (K) that in one moment jumps on the shoulders of his dominant companion and rides him like a horse across the country that he works out during the ride and sometimes even makes some changes). Because significant part of a novelette takes part on the river Vltava bank, Róna takes the advantage of terrain shift near the area of location of the sculpture to place a copy of a bank railing and cyclopean wall to evoke the atmosphere of the text (with cooperation of architect's David Vávra studio).
The sculptor's aim was to provoke the terrifying but also absurdly humorous poetics of Kafka's works. There can be a lot of explanations of this work that could be moving continuously together with the times. (At least as for the author's wish)
www.digital-guide.cz:
The monument was inspired by an important short story written by Kafka called"Popis Jednoho Zápasu" (Description of a Match). The"split" design of the statue refers back to the spiritual split of the writer mentioned in the novel. The novel describes a situation in which a character defeats his opponent who is supposedly dominant. The important part of the novel takes place at the Vltava River waterfront.
The Franz Kafka Monument was unveiled in Prague on December 4, 2003. Commemorating one of the world's greatest writers and the famous native of Prague.
This bronze sculpture by Czech sculptor Jaroslav Róna stands between Prague's Church of the Holy Spirit and its Spanish Synagogue. The statue is 3.75 meters high and weighs 700 kilos. Cast by Miloš Vacek's Bronze Foundry, it was designed by Jaroslav Róna and made in conjunction with the Architectural Studio of David Vávra. The construction of the Franz Kafka monument in Prague is a project of the Franz Kafka Society.
This interesting metal statue is based on a vivid description that appears in Franz Kafka's early short story"Description of a Struggle." Kafka wrote of a young man riding on another man's shoulders through the streets of Prague. In Rona's work, that figure is Kafka himself sitting astride a headless man.
This monument is a very successful realization of the current sculpture art in public open space. As a matter of fact, the placement of the monument in an old built-up area, on a terrain break and on the boundary line of Josefov - a former Jewish town and Prague Old Town, symbolize in a way also Kafka's situation of a German writing Jewish author in the Czech environment. The setting of the monument on a small space is fortunate and in a de facto manner strengthens the absurd humor that the sculpture contains. The sculpture itself is a kind of paraphrase of an equestrian statue - Kafka sits on an empty suit and is drifted to an unknown place.
www.jaroslav-rona.cz:
His design was a sculpture made up of two bodies. When we look at it closer we find out that the lower part is only an empty men's suit (jacket and trousers). This suit bears a figure of Franz Kafka on its shoulders (as a small child). One hand is resting on his thigh while the other is bent in 90° angle and is pointing his index finger directly forward.
According the sculptor's explanation, the work was inspired by Kafka's famous novelette Popis jednoho zápasu (Description of one match). This separated design was inspired by the spiritual separation that the author reveals in his texts. The novelette is about one character (K) that in one moment jumps on the shoulders of his dominant companion and rides him like a horse across the country that he works out during the ride and sometimes even makes some changes). Because significant part of a novelette takes part on the river Vltava bank, Róna takes the advantage of terrain shift near the area of location of the sculpture to place a copy of a bank railing and cyclopean wall to evoke the atmosphere of the text (with cooperation of architect's David Vávra studio).
The sculptor's aim was to provoke the terrifying but also absurdly humorous poetics of Kafka's works. There can be a lot of explanations of this work that could be moving continuously together with the times. (At least as for the author's wish)
www.digital-guide.cz:
The monument was inspired by an important short story written by Kafka called"Popis Jednoho Zápasu" (Description of a Match). The"split" design of the statue refers back to the spiritual split of the writer mentioned in the novel. The novel describes a situation in which a character defeats his opponent who is supposedly dominant. The important part of the novel takes place at the Vltava River waterfront.