Pardubice will borrow a three-meter steel horse for a year

Gabriel’s work, created like a number of other sculptures of the original artist using the unique technique of steel plates, will be loaned to Pardubice by the Trutnov gallery EPO1 of the Kasper family.

“In March of this year, the Trutnov gallery EPO1 approached the municipality with an offer to borrow a horse sculpture by the prominent Czech sculptor Michal Gabriel free of charge. The decision was not at all lengthy, as the statue is primarily intended for public space, which fits into the long-term plan to place in Pardubice the artistic attribute of the horse, which is so typical for the city,” explained the deputy mayor of Pardubice, Jiřina Klčová (ANO).

Photo: City of Pardubice

A compartment in Pardubice

Two possible locations for the monumental horse were selected by the culture department of the municipality together with the Services of the city of Pardubice.

Photo: Mapy.cz

Pardubický Příhrádek from a bird’s eye view

“The final location was determined by Michal Gabriel, who came to Pardubice to inspect both locations. The choice fell on the green area between Příhrádek and the castle ramparts,” explained Jana Fiedlerová, head of the culture and tourism department of the Pardubice municipality.

He created a sculpture of Havel

Pardubice will pay less than 40,000 crowns for the rental of the original horse, which represents the cost of the work’s journey from Trutnov, seventy-two kilometers away, and insurance.

Sculptor Michal Gabriel is also a collaborator in the implementation of the Indonesian Jungle project at the Prague Zoo

According to the municipality, the steel horse sculpture will appropriately expand the existing works of art in the city’s public space.

“We have around three hundred and fifty such works in Pardubice. These are, for example, statues, sculptures, mosaics, but also commemorative plaques and small sacred buildings,” calculates deputy Klčová.

The former dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts of the BUT in Brno, Professor Gabriel, lives and works in Trutnov, where his life-size sculpture of Václav Havel was unveiled at the end of last year. Gabriel’s lamellar sculptures, mostly intended for public spaces, represent a worldwide unique in sculptural work. No one else works with a similar technique.