Magdalena Abakanowicz: Today’s Google Doodle in honor of the Polish art pioneer

If you go to Google’s homepage today, you’ll find a little Google Doodle instead of the usual Google letters. Google honors Polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz, who would have turned 93 today, June 20, 2023.

The Pole comes from a noble family and was born in 1930 near Warsaw. She grew up on her mother’s estate and, according to the Google Watchblog, belongs to a generation of artists whose childhood ended at the end of World War II. From 1949 to 1954 she studied at the art academies of Danzig and Warsaw.

Although she focused on painting during her studies, she felt an affinity for the visual arts, possibly due to her rural childhood. Visual art was then also the art form in which she became successful. She created three-dimensional tapestry murals called “Abakans”. For the murals, she won the Grand Prix at the 1965 Biennale in São Paulo.

In the mid-1970s, Abakanowicz changed her style and started making human-like sculptures. She made the sculptures from materials such as iron resin, jute, stone, bronze and concrete. Many of the figures still stand as permanent installations in squares around the world.

From 1965 she taught at the art academy in Posen and received a total of seven honorary doctorates from different art schools. In addition, she has received several awards for her artistic skills, including the “Grosse Bundesverdienstkreuz mit Stern” from the German Embassy in Warsaw for “her outstanding and lasting contribution to the cultural dialogue between Poland and Germany”.

On April 20, 2017, Magdalena Abakanowicz died in Warsaw at the age of 86.

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