Albin Polasek

Albin Polasek, sculptor of the Father Pierre Gibault statue

Courtesy Library of Congress Bain News Service photograph collection

Quick Facts

Significance:

Sculptor

Place of Birth:

Frenštát, Moravia (now the Czech Republic)

Date of Birth:

February 14,1879

Place of Death:

Winter Park, Florida

Date of Death:

May 19, 1965

Place of Burial:

Winter Park, Florida

Cemetery Name:

Palm Cemetery

The emotional, spiritual side of a person needs development and preservation and constant refreshment and recreation, just as the body does.

-Albin Polasek

Albin Polasek, the sculptor of the statue of Father Pierre Gibault in front of the Old Cathedral, was born in what is now the Czech Republic in 1879. After apprenticing as a wood carver in Vienna, he emigrated to the United States in 1901 and began formal art training in Pennsylvania in 1904 and became an American citizen in 1909. He won the Prix de Rome in 1910 which granted him a three-year fellowship in Rome. He was invited to head the sculpture department of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1916 and worked there for nearly 30 years.

Prominent works include the Theodore Thomas Memorial and Masaryk in Chicago, IL, the Woodrow Wilson monument and Radagast sculpture in Prague, Czech Republic.

At the time the Gibault statue was commissioned there was a debate as to whether or not it should be done in bronze or granite. Members of the Fine Arts Commission argued that granite would hold up better over time, give a stronger appearance, and would not lose it's color as much as the bronze would. Polasek argued that bronze was the better choice because it fit with the old buildings in the area, particularly the Old Cathedral. He also advocated that since the statue was going to be done in a modest scale, subtle modeling could be achieved better in bronze than it could in granite. Advocates also argued that other bronze statues in similar climates, had aged well and retained their original colors. In the end, the committee allowed Polasek to make the decision and he chose to cast the statue in bronze.

Polasek retired to Winter Park Florida in 1950 and months later suffered a stroke which resulted in paralysis on his left side. Regardless he completed another 18 major works using just is right hand. Of the 400 works he created in his lifetime, roughly 200 are currently on the grounds of the Albin Polasek Museum and Sculpture Gardens in Winter Park, Florida. 

Today, the statue of Father Gibault stands in front of the cathedral holding a cross in one hand and a scroll with the oath of allegiance for the townspeople of Vincennes in the other.