Object numberM2011/059
Creator Imre Varga
DescriptionBronze and marble statue of Raoul Wallenberg by Hungarian sculptor Imre Varga. Raoul Wallenberg stands with one hand in overcoat pocket and the other stretched as if opening the doors (of oppression), represented by two upright stone slabs. The statue is signed: "To Raoul Wallenberg. 1966 Budapest Varga Imre".
In 1945 the people of Budapest collected funds to commission a statue in honour of Raoul Wallenberg. It featured Wallenberg as Saint George slaying the Dragon represented by Nazi Germany. On the night before its dedication, the Russian Army took the statue to Debrecen, Hungary, where it was placed outside a hospital and came to represent the slaying of darkness by science.
A second statue of Wallenberg was completed by Varga in 1966 and a copy of the original commission was donated to the Museum by the estate of the late John Saunders. The artist represents Wallenberg as an ordinary man, throwing open the doors of oppression. On the back of one of the ‘doors’ is a recreation of the 1945 statue. The dragon of Varga's earlier work has been transformed into a snake covered with swastikas.
In 1945 the people of Budapest collected funds to commission a statue in honour of Raoul Wallenberg. It featured Wallenberg as Saint George slaying the Dragon represented by Nazi Germany. On the night before its dedication, the Russian Army took the statue to Debrecen, Hungary, where it was placed outside a hospital and came to represent the slaying of darkness by science.
A second statue of Wallenberg was completed by Varga in 1966 and a copy of the original commission was donated to the Museum by the estate of the late John Saunders. The artist represents Wallenberg as an ordinary man, throwing open the doors of oppression. On the back of one of the ‘doors’ is a recreation of the 1945 statue. The dragon of Varga's earlier work has been transformed into a snake covered with swastikas.
Production placeBudapest, Hungary
Production date 1966
Object namesculptures
Materialbronze
Dimensions
- sculpture height: 590.00 mm
sculpture width: 370.00 mm
sculpture depth: 280.00 mm
plinth height: 1000.00 mm
plinth width: 450.00 mm
plinth depth: 350.00 mm
figure height: 390.00 mm
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by John Saunders