Gutfreund, Oto

Born Aug. 3, 1889, in Dvůr Králové; died June 2, 1927, in Prague. Czech sculptor.

Gutfreund studied in Prague at the Academy of Applied Arts from 1906 to 1909 and in Paris from 1909 to 1910 under E. A. Bourdelle. In 1926 he became a professor at the Prague Academy of Applied Arts. In his earlier years he was influenced by expressionism and cubism. During the 1920’s, Gutfreund joined a group of artists who belonged to the progressive-democratic trend in Czech art. He created realistic portraits, sculpted groups of figures and reliefs, and drew plans for monuments. Gutfreund’s best works, a self-portrait (1919), Labor (1923), and Industry (1923), are all in painted terra-cotta and are located at the National Gallery in Prague. These works are characterized by a natural sense of composition, clarity of architectonics, and a generalized modeling style.