A collection of 83 headless figures (approximately the size of a child) by renowned sculptor Magdalena Abakanowicz has set a new record on the Polish art market, fetching PLN 13.6 million (£2.5m) at a Warsaw auction, according to Polish media.

The unusual installation entitled “Bambini”, was sold at the Polswiss Art auction house in the Polish capital last Tuesday, Polish news agency PAP reported. The sale also marked the highest price ever paid for a work by Abakanowicz anywhere in the world, according to Polswiss Art.

Marta Abakanowicz-Kosmowska was a Polish sculptor and fibre artist of Tartar descent. She became famous worldwide for her works including spatial compositions called “abakans.” She was a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznań from 1965 to 1990 and a visiting professor at the University of California, Los Angeles in 1984.

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Abakanowicz is widely considered one of Poland’s most internationally acclaimed artists. Throughout her long and prolific career, she received numerous awards, honours and doctorates. Her style is often referred to as Postminimalism.

The following is a quote from her that allows us to better understand her approach regarding art. „Art will remain the most astonishing activity of mankind born out of the struggle between wisdom and madness, between dream and reality in our mind.”

In a previous record sale on the Polish art market, a painting by figurative artist Andrzej Wróblewski, Two Married Women, was auctioned off for PLN 13.44 million (£2,47m) at the end of last month.

In October, Abakanowicz’s Crowd III set of sculptures was sold for PLN 13.2 million (£2,43m) at the Desa Unicum auction house in Warsaw.

Author: Sébastien Meuwissen

Photo: Twitter @kultura_gov_pl