26 January: Remembering Katarzyna Kobro on Birthday

OV Digital Desk
3 Min Read
Katarzyna Kobro

Image Courtesy: Google Doodle

Katarzyna Kobro (26 January 1898 – 21 February 1951) was a Polish avant-garde sculptor and a prominent representative of the Constructivist movement in Poland. A pioneer of innovative multi-dimensional abstract sculpture.

Life and Career

Katarzyna Kobro was born on 26 January 1898 in Moscow. She was was a Polish avant-garde sculptor and painter. She was one of the most important figures in the Constructivist movement in Poland in the 1920s and 1930s.

Kobro studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw and later in Paris at the École des Beaux-Arts. She was influenced by the works of Kazimir Malevich and the Russian Constructivists.

In the 1920s, she began to create sculptures using the principle of “spatial constructions,” which were abstract geometric shapes made of metal and wood. These works were meant to be viewed in the round, and often incorporated movement and the viewer’s perspective into the piece.

Kobro was also a member of the Polish avant-garde group, Blok. She had solo exhibitions in Poland, France and Belgium.

Katarzyna Kobro died on 21 February 1951 in Warsaw. Today her works are considered important milestones in the history of avant-garde art and are featured in many museums around the world.

Award and Legacy

Her legacy and contributions to the world of art have been recognized in the years since her death.

Her sculptures and spatial constructions are considered an important part of the Constructivist movement and have been exhibited in major museums and galleries around the world, including the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, the Tate Modern in London, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Her works have also been included in numerous retrospectives and exhibitions dedicated to the history of avant-garde art.

Kobro’s legacy also includes her role as a teacher. She was a professor of sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, where she trained many young artists who went on to become important figures in the art world.

Today, her work is considered an important part of the history of 20th-century art and continues to be studied and admired by scholars, critics, and art enthusiasts around the world.

On 12 December 2012, the International Astronomical Union named a crater located in the southern hemisphere of Mercury named in honor of Kobro. On 26 January 2022, Google Doodle celebrated Katarzyna Kobro’s 124th birthday.

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