Just to prove that globalization is truly global, Marek Keller, a Polish adventurer and avid traveler who spent time in Mexico, owns a beautiful estate near Podkowa Leśna, just outside of Warsaw. Beyond the sparkling pond, surrounded by a park, sits Keller’s palace. A jewel filled with works of art and antiques, it is not so much the palace that is so striking, but the gardens that surround it. In this Sculpture Park, art lovers can find the bird sculptures of Mexican artist Juan Soriano, who was a personal friend of Marek Keller. When Mr. Keller bought his estate, he brought there the sculptures of his friend because he wanted these pieces of art which “are so aesthetically distant from our own, to become part of the Mazovian landscape.” And this is how Soriano’s Aztec influenced, pterodactyl-looking, monumental bronze birds found themselves in Kazimierówka.

Juan Soriano, who died several years ago, had the opportunity to visit his friend in his palace. As it happens to most foreigners who visit Poland, he fell under the spell of the country and spent hours making sketches of birds in Keller’s park. After Soriano’s death, it became important to Keller to do something to commemorate this great Mexican sculptor while at the same time creating a unique artistic effect with the massive sculptures, Mexican birds that very often serve as perch to Polish ones.


Text by: América L. Martín