Find Art All Around Orange County Florida
Sponsored by Arts & Cultural Affairs
Featured Work
Pilgrim at the Eternal Gate
-
Albin PolasekSculpture (EXTERIOR)
Albin Polasek Museum and Sculpture Gardens
About the Artwork
Polasek made a doorway, in front of which stands the bronze figure of a man, his hand reaching for the knocker, looking back over his shoulder for one last glimpse of his past life. This version was cast in 1977.
About the Artist
Albin Polasek
Albin Polasek is heralded as one of America’s foremost sculptors of the twentieth century. Born in Frenstat, Moravia (now Czech Republic), he immigrated to the United States at the age of twenty-two. He attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and was formally trained under Charles Grafly. He was awarded in the Prix de Rome competition of 1910, with a three year fellowship at the American Academy of Art in Rome. At the age of thirty-seven, he became the head of the Sculpture Department at the Art Institute of Chicago. In 1927, he was elected an Associate Member of the National Academy of Design and received full Academician status in 1933. At the age of 71, Polasek retired to Winter Park, Florida, on picturesque Lake Osceola, now the site of the Albin Polasek Museum. A few months later, his artistic efforts were slowed dramatically by a stroke. Yet with determination and resolve, he continued to complete eighteen major works. In his lifetime, Albin Polasek created over four hundred works of art, leaving behind the legacy of a “man carving his own destiny”.
Did you know?
The City of Winter Park's Public Art Advisory Board seeks to bring a temporary exhibitions of sculpture by internationally known artists to Winter Park. Their first 'Art on the Green' was held in 2006/2007.
Discover Art in Central Florida!
For those who have eyes to see, there are hundreds of works of art around them.
This web site provides some information on many of those works of art that can
be regularly viewed in Orange County by any member of the public without an
admission fee. They are outside in public view, or located in an interior area
that is normally open to the public.
Look around this web site and find something that interests you. Then go see it
in person. The information you find here will add to the pleasure of exploring
public art in Central Florida.
If, in your travels around Orange County, you come across some public art that
is not listed here, please let us know so we can add it. If you are aware of
additional information about art or artist that is included here, again, please
let us know. Together we can make this an incredible resource for people seeking
to spice up their life through exploring art.