10. Life - Ferdinand Gallaș
The sculptor Ferdinand Gallas was a Romanian sculptor of German ethnicity (Banat Swabian), one of the most important visual artists who worked in Timișoara during the first half of the 20th century. He was born in 1893, into a modest family. From an early age, his remarkable talent for drawing and modeling was noticed by his teachers. He studied at the School of Arts and Crafts in Timișoara, and later, with the help of a scholarship, in Budapest. There, he began to excel in the study of the human body and sculpture, participating in exhibitions and receiving high praise. As recognition of his merits, he was appointed assistant professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Budapest.
The artist’s life was marked by extreme experiences: during the First World War he was sent to the front, and later held as a prisoner in Russia for seven years. Under harsh conditions, he worked as a carpenter, stonecutter, jeweler, translator, and stage designer. After his release, he studied sculpture at the Academy of Arts in Moscow. His artistic interest focused on the humanity of his figures and his attention to detail.
The stone sculpture “Life” was created upon his return to Timișoara in 1921. It was presented to the public a year later, in his own exhibition. This is one of his best-known works. It depicts a tense male figure, his back bent under the weight of a boulder. His head is tilted forward, with his chin resting on his chest. The figure appears to be in motion, with his left leg placed in front of the right one, as if he is about to take a step. Beneath his body lies a stone pillar that serves both as physical support for the statue and possibly carries symbolic meaning.
The work evokes the main scene from the myth of Sisyphus. In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was punished for his deeds by being forced to roll a huge boulder up a steep hill, in the deepest part of the Underworld. Each time he neared the top, the stone would roll back down, forcing him to repeat the effort endlessly. The punishment is considered cruel because of its eternal repetition. This myth can be connected to the life of Ferdinand Gallas, as it also expresses the human need to resist and to begin again, in a continuous search for one’s own meaning in life.
Ferdinand Gallas explored similar themes throughout his career, all executed with careful attention to detail and a deep sensitivity to the human form. Many of his monumental works can be found in Timișoara and the Banat region: façade ornaments for public buildings, funerary monuments for wealthy families, and memorials dedicated to Romanian soldiers who died in the First World War.
He passed away in the summer of 1949, in the public hospital of Lovrin, where he was also buried.