Woman in Prayer, 1917

This sculpture shows a narrow female bust with a strongly elongated back of the head. The long, pointed nose makes the profile look classical. The slender, elegant hands, molded in front of the body, lead over the heart to the elongated neck. The Croatian sculptor Ivan Meštrović (1883–1962), who studied and began his career in Vienna, arrived at an autonomous style in the 1910s. At the exhibitions of the Vienna Secession he saw works by international artists including George Minne (1866–1941), Max Klinger (1857–1920) and Auguste Rodin (1840–1917). These were role models for the young, emerging generation of sculptors in Vienna, who, like Meštrović, were searching for a new sculptural form. The artist managed to transform the female figure into an untouchable saint immersed in quiet devotion.

AK, 2021