Boleslas BIEGAS (Koziczyn 1877- Paris 1954) Lot n° 73

Swiatowid Made in 1912 Original plaster with white and beige patina Height : 203 cm Width : 34 cm Depth : 35 cm Signed on the base "B. Biegas" and on another side titled "Cztery Strony Surata". (Misses, chip in the nose) Notice of inclusion in the catalog raisonné of the sculptures of Boleslas Biegas being prepared by Xavier Deryng, under the aegis of the Polish Historical and Literary Society/Polish Library of Paris, universal legatee of the artist. The buyer is granted the right to print twelve copies in bronze, provided that he gives one copy to the Polish Historical and Literary Society. Kupujacy bedzie mial prawo do wykonania dwunastu odlewów z zastrzeżeniem, ze jeden odlew odlew zostanie przekazany Polskiemu Towarzystwu Historyczno-Litareckiemu w Paryzu. The purchaser is granted the right to cast twelve bronze, provided that one cast is given to the Polish Historical and Literary Society. Swiatowid was the main polycephalous deity worshipped by the ancient Slavic tribes, referred to as "deus deorum" by medieval chroniclers such as Helmold of Bossau and Saxo-Grammaticus, Svantovit was considered the supreme god of the Slavic pantheon. In 1848, a stone column, 2.57 meters high, with four sides was discovered in Ukraine, in the Zbrucz, a tributary of the Dniestr, in Horodnica. It was brought to the property of Count Mieczyslaw Potocki, who donated it to the Krakow Society of Sciences. The statue was named Swiatowid in Polish and was exhibited in the vestibule of the Polish Academy of Sciences, located not far from the School of Fine Arts in Slawkowska Street. Zbrucz's Swiatowid will thus deeply influence Biegas during his studies. This idol will constitute one of the sources of the primitivism and the geometrism of his sculptures, as Stanislas Gierszynski underlined it as early as 1902 in his contribution to the special issue of the Quill: "Swiatowid" the ancient god of the Slavic mythology is reborn with him. His four providential faces embrace the other corners of the universe". Swiatowid will also appear in Biegas' plays. In 1904, in his drama, Lechit, he describes a Sphinx with a huge four-faced head and in 1915, in the last scene of the Mysteries of War, Swiatowid intervenes to announce the resurrection of Poland. Provenance: Artist's studio Inventory of Jan Szymanski, no. 62 Jan Krugier Gallery, Geneva, 1975 Workshop of Boleslas Biegas (1877-1954), sculptures and paintings by the ministry of Me Pierre Cornette de Saint Cyr, Paris, Nouveau Drouot, Tuesday 30 June 1987, n° 77. Exhibition : Salon de l'Union Internationale des Beaux-Arts et des Lettres, Paris, Champs-Élysées (Alcazar d'Été), October 1-November 3, 1911, no. 91, Les quatre coins du monde, plaster. The catalog states that the marble version was offered for 12,000 francs. Biegas had also sent two other plaster casts, The Earth, The Sun and The Thinker (Birth of Thought) in bronze, to this Salon. Edvard Munch also participated in this exhibition with six paintings. Exhibition Boleslas Biegas, Galerie Jan Krugier, Geneva, 1975, reproduced on p. 19, n° 41. Bibliography: Xavier Deryng, Boleslas Biegas, sculptures-peintures, exhibition catalog, Paris, trianon de Bagatelle, 1992, pp.33-39.