[1][2] Born as Albín Polášek on February 14, 1879, in Frenštát, Moravia, part of Austria-Hungary (now in the Czech Republic), Polasek apprenticed as a wood carver in Vienna.

In 1909, Polasek became an American citizen; in 1910, he won the Rome Prize competition; in 1913, he received honorable mention at the Paris Salon for "The Sower;" in 1915, he took the Widener Gold Medal from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts for his sculpture "Aspiration.

"[3] At age 37, after periods of residence in Rome and New York City,[4] he was invited to head the sculpture department at the Art Institute of Chicago, where he remained for nearly 30 years.

[5] While there he created the original Forest Idyll; Victorious Christ and Virgin of the Corn for St. Cecelia's Cathedral in Omaha, Nebraska; Kenilworth Memorial relief, Kenilworth, Illinois; The Spirit of Music in Grant Park in Chicago; the Woodrow Wilson Memorial in Prague, Czech Republic; Governor Richard Yates sculpture, capital grounds, Springfield, Illinois; and many other works.

Albin Polasek was a close friend of fellow artist Louis Grell while he lived at Tree Studios in Chicago.