Zsigmond Kisfaludi Strobl

Zsigmond Kisfaludi Strobl was the kind of guy who kept a chisel in one pocket and a sketchbook in the other. He carved when he wasn’t drawing, and he drew wherever he happened to be—train stations, cafés, even while walking. That restless habit shows up in his sculpture: he liked to carve faces that look like they’re still deciding whether to smile or frown. Tap his bronze portrait of a Hungarian soldier called “The Unknown Hero” in Heroes’ Square, Budapest: the lips are half-open, as if the man just turned his head to answer you.