| Number | AMHAM: OBJECT.1650 |
|---|---|
| Date | (1942) |
| About this object | This bust by the Czechoslovak sculptor Mary Durasova (later Duraš) (1884-1982) is made from unsealed plaster attached to a wooden base and is one of two known portraits completed by Duras of Marie-Louise. The Motesiczkys’ Amersham home was an echo of a lost Vienna and nexus for émigré friends from continental Europe. Duraš was a regular visitor, having settled near Wendover during the war. It is likely that the reason that Marie-Louise chose Amersham was because of the proximity of her friend. As a creative and intellectual refuge, notable visitors to the Motesiczkys’ Amersham home included the poet and anthropologist Franz Baermann Steiner, writer and later Nobel Laureate, Elias Canetti and German Expressionist artist, Oskar Kokoschka. Marie-Louise and Mary Duraš had a joint exhibition in London in 1944 at the Czechoslovak Institute, Kokoschka organising it. Whilst living at Small Dean Farm, Mary also made a bust of Jan Masaryk, the Foreign Minister of the Czechoslovak Government in Exile (now in the Czech Embassy). This sculpture of Marie-Louise appears cold, which given the close relationship between sitter (Motesiczky) and artist (Duraš) appears remarkable. The expression captured is that of both outward strength, in her assertive gaze, but also inward contemplation. Motesiczky remains defiant, bearing, like many of those fleeing war, the trauma of dislocation. Purchased from the family of Marie Duraš with a grant from the Marie-Louise von Motesiczky Charitable Trust, 2024. |
| Made By | Mary Duraš |
| Made In | Small Dean Farm, Wendover (Assumed) |
| Physical Description | Life-sized (likely cast and yellowed) unsealed plaster bust with exposed jute scrim, mounted onto a contemporary wooden base and secured with metal screws. |
| Find Out More | Mary Duras - Amersham Museum Two Talented Women Artists in Exile during WWII - Amersham Museum |