Visual art
Ferenc Varga
1906–1989 · sculptor
Hungarian sculptor who fled after World War II, settled in Detroit in the 1950s and made public monuments for the city's Polish and Catholic communities, including a Pulaski monument.
- Born
Székesfehérvár, Hungary- Died
Florida
aged 83- Birth name
- Varga Ferenc
- Also known as
- Varga Ferenc
- Detroit years
- 1950s–1970
- Field
- Visual art
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Varga trained in Hungary and made a name with religious statues and war memorials for Hungarian towns in the 1930s. He left Hungary in 1948, lived briefly in Belgium and Canada, and in 1951 his family joined him in Windsor, Ontario, where he had opened a studio. From there they crossed the river to Detroit. Restarting a fine-arts career in a new country was hard at first, but in Detroit he went on to win many public commissions. His Detroit-area works include a Casimir Pulaski monument, a bust of Nicolaus Copernicus, a statue of Pope John Paul II, a Pietà for the St. Juliana convent and a St. Joseph relief for St. Joseph Church in Wyandotte. He moved to Florida in 1970. His son Frank Varga also became a noted artist.
Highlights
- Left Hungary in 1948; settled in Detroit in the 1950s
- Casimir Pulaski monument and Copernicus bust in Detroit
- Statue of Pope John Paul II in the Detroit area
- Gold medal of the Accademia Italia delle Arti del Lavoro, 1979
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 1950s–1960s
Casimir Pulaski Monument (Detroit)
Status being checked
Monument to the Polish-American Revolutionary War hero, listed among Varga's Detroit works.
Worked here · 1950s–1960s
St. Joseph Church (Wyandotte)
Status being checked
Wyandotte parish church for which Varga carved a relief of St. Joseph.