Olbram Zoubek

1926 / 2017

Olbram Zoubek was one of the most prominent Czech sculptors of the second half of the twentieth century and the beginning of the new millennium. He was born in Prague on 21 April 1926 and died there on 15 June 2017. In April 2026, the centenary of his birth will be commemorated.

Olbram Zoubek was not only an extraordinary artist but also a personality of strong moral character. His work and life were marked by a clear stance of resistance to the unfreedom under the communist regime. He is the author of the Monument to the Victims of Communism in Prague at Petřín; on 19 January 1969 he removed the death mask of Jan Palach and subsequently created his tombstone. Following the death of Jan Zajíc, he also created his tombstone. Zoubek is likewise the author of the Milada Horáková Monument in Prague’s Smíchov district. His final sculpture was dedicated to the martyred Father Toufar.

The sculpture Contemplation, which he created in 1993 as the Monument to the Victims of Communist Atrocities in Klatovy, also belongs to this line.

Contemplation (1993)

The monument was unveiled in Klatovy on 22 May 1993 at the initiative of the local branch of the Confederation of Political Prisoners. Originally executed in tin, it was later cast in bronze after the original sculpture was destroyed by unknown perpetrators. During the reconstruction of Hostašovy Sady in 2015, the monument was relocated from the central area of the park to an elevated site at the end of the promenade, near the former town fortifications.

TO ALL THOSE WHOM DEATH PREVENTED FROM TELLING THE STORY TO THE VICTIMS OF COMMUNIST ATROCITIES, 1948 1989
KPVČ KLATOVY

Contemplation is a sculpture typical of Zoubek’s authentic style: a slender human figure defined by pronounced verticality, subtle stylisation, and a refined gesture. The work conveys a meditative, quiet, and timeless presence. It combines the artist’s deep inspiration drawn from antiquity with his humanistic view of man—his fragility and dignity.