Monday, September 20, 2010

"The Struggle"


Browsing the portal the other day I did a double-take when I saw that this same statue called The Struggle (Borba) by Simeon Roksandric (1874-1943) is in Zagreb. Roksandric had made one statue for the great Balkan exhibition in London in 1907. During the transport to or from London, Roskandic got word that the ship carrying the sculpture had sunk. So he made another statue from the same cast.

It turned out that this was untrue and he ended up with two identical statues. The Belgrade City Council decided to buy one in 1912, and Zagreb bought the other.

Like my fellow blogger in Zagreb, I was unable to find any information as to exactly what this statue represents, other than the obvious fisherman strangling a snake. Tried Googling in several languages, nothing!

Anybody know?



14 comments:

Gaelyn said...

Roksandric definitely caught the anguish and drama behind this scene.

Helena said...

Great photo and great post Bibi! Thanks for linking my blog! =)

Genie -- Paris and Beyond said...

Bibi, this is a dramatic bronze and almost gives me a shiver. He shows incredible strength in this struggle.

I think that the angle of your photo adds to the drama!

xx
Genie

Luis Gomez said...

This one is really fantastic.

Leif Hagen said...

That's an impressive statue of a strong fisherman! I like, like your photo of it!

Randy said...

I agree with Leif, it is quite impressive. Love your new banner photo too.

Olivier said...

superbe statue et quelle expression dans le visage de la statue, impressionnante

J e l e n a said...

Now you have me wondering to! I'll ask around and thank you for sharing the story. I have walked by the statue and did not know the author. His Čukur česma is the best one, but this one does not fall behind much.

B SQUARED said...

I have some religious guesses but nothing concrete.

Daryl said...

Not a clue .. its very interesting .. and I am loving your new header!

dianasfaria.com said...

Interesting story. I wish I knew what the artists intent was though I am sure there have been many personal interpretations which is always good too.
Nice shot Bibi.

J e l e n a said...

You got me very interested now. Maybe it has to do with the struggle for the independence in the early 20th century in the metaphoric way.

Louis la Vache said...

«Louis» knows he doesn't like snakes!

(That applies to the fisherman, too!)

;-)

Unknown said...

The sculptor's name is actually Roksandic, Simeon Roksandic. And the real name of the sculpture is "Unfortunate Fisherman", in Serbian "Zlosretni ribar".
And what was the artists idea... Who knows...
The important thing is, that the sculpture is really very effective.

SPRING FASHION

 This is a post that would be better in color, but maybe not. These colors were soooo pale.