Professor Bronisław Chromy
3 June 1925 – 4 October 2017
Sculptor, medallist, painter, draughtsman, professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow, member of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences, student of Xawery Dunikowski.
Bronisław Chromy was born in 1925 in Leńcze near Lanckorona. After finishing the High School of Fine Arts, he began his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow, graduating in 1956. He took part in numerous group and individual exhibitions both in Poland and abroad. Immensely talented and endowed with an inexhaustible energy and willingness to work hard, he remained active until almost 90 years old, and created works whose characteristic style made them recognisable and unique. Bronisław Chromy was an extremely versatile artist. His oeuvre included monuments and large outdoor sculptures but also small statues and medals. In his work, Bronisław Chromy touched upon many topics. Of note are his sculptures dealing with history and martyrdom (Auschwitz Pietà) as well as those devoted to music (Frédéric Chopin Memorial) or cosmology (Copernicus, Constellations and Star Systems) and depicting animals (numerous sculptures belonging to this group can be seen in the Bronisław Chromy Gallery in the Decius Park in the Wola Justowska district of Cracow).
Among Chromy’s outstanding sculptures and monuments that have become permanent features of Cracow’s landscape, of special note are the Wawel Dragon on the bank of the Vistula River, the Three Musicians’ Fountain in Wolnica Square, the Owls in the Planty Park, the Sheep standing in the square in front of the University of Agriculture as well as the truly extraordinary Monument to Dżok the Dog, the symbol of canine faithfulness (on the bank of the Vistula River near the Wawel Castle). Animals also feature in Bronisław Chromy’s usually vividly coloured and expressive paintings. Chromy indulged in his passion for painting during his holiday stays at the Artists’ Summer Retreat in Masuria. Those plein air workshops ended with exhibitions that were held every year at the Bronisław Chromy Gallery. In the final years of his life, Professor Bronisław Chromy debuted as a writer, publishing his autobiography entitled Kamień i marzenie (‘The Stone and the Dream’).
In March 2009, Professor Chromy was awarded the Gold Gloria Artis Medal for his contributions to the Polish culture. Bronisław Chromy took part in many group exhibitions; starting in the 1960s, he held his own exhibitions as well. Moreover, he won many monument design competitions.
Professor Bronisław Chromy’s works are featured in the collections of, among others, the National Museum in Warsaw, the National Museum in Cracow, the National Museum in Poznań, the Museum of Medal-Making in Wrocław, the Upper Silesian Museum in Bytom, the Silesian Museum in Katowice as well as museums in Oświęcim, Paris, Copenhagen, Moscow, Skopje, Helsinki, Barcelona, Dijon, Ravenna, Hasselt, Bochum and Arezzo. Additionally, many are owned by private collectors both in Poland and abroad, among others in Austria, Japan, Australia, USA and Canada.
Filmography:
Rezerwat (‘Reserve’), 1967 film by Kazimierz Urbański
Droga na Olimp (‘Road to Mount Olympus’), film by Zofia Halota awarded at the Art Films Review in Zakopane in 1982
Wakacje artysty (‘Artist’s Holidays’), 1993 film by Zofia Halota
Bronisław Chromy also created the Golden Dragon and Lajkonik statuettes for the Cracow International Short Film Festival, the Pegasus statuettes for the Zakopane Art Films Review as well as medals for the Puppet Theatre Festival in Bielsko-Biała, a medal for the British Art Medal Society (1985), a medal for the Cracow International Biennial of Art by Persons with Disabilities, a medal for the Bielska Jesień Painting Biennial, sculpted heads of performers from the Cracow Piwnica pod Baranami literary cabaret and Oscar of the Heart statuettes for the Cardiac Surgery Foundation in Zabrze.
One-man Shows
1961
Cracow, the Barbican, Days of Cracow (sculpture)
1962
Cracow, Pianty Green, Days of Cracow (sculpture)
1964
Cracow, Pianty Green, Days of Cracow (sculpture)
1965
Cracow, Square of the Higher School of Agriculture (sculpture)
1966
Warsaw, Krakowskie Przedmiescie Street (sculpture)
Cracow-Nowa Huta, plein-air (sculpture)
1967 Zakopane, Chocholowska Glade (sculpture)
Grudziądz
Budapest
1968
Cracow, Journalists Club
Cracow, Bureau for Art Exhibitions (sculpture, medals)
1969
Cracow, Bureau for Art Exhibitions (sculpture, medals)
“Flamingoes”, Cracow, Academy of Mining and Metallurgy
1970
Cracow, “One Sculpture Exhibition”
1972
Warsaw
Katowice
Wroclaw
Cracow, Secondary School of Fine Arts (sculpture)
1973
Torun, Bureau for Art Exhibitions (sculpture, medals)
Bydgoszcz, Bureau for Art Exhibitions (sculpture, medals)
Katowice, Bureau for Art Exhibitions
Grudziądz, Regional Museum,
Zakopane
1974
Cracow, Bureau for Art Exhibitions (sculpture, medals)
1975
Warsaw, Art Gallery of the Polish Army House (sculpture)
Wroclaw, Museum of Medal Art
School for the Blind, Cracow
Bialystok, Bureau for Art Exhibitions (sculpture, medals)
Olsztyn, Bureau for Art Exhibitions (sculpture, medals)
1978
Warsaw, Sculpture Gallery (sculpture, medals)
Katowice, Bureau for Art Exhibitions (sculpture, medals)
Łomża, Bureau for Art Exhibitions
1979
Katowice, Gallery of the Academy of Fine Arts (sculpture, medals)
Wroclaw, Avant-garde Gallery
1980
Wroclaw, Museum of Medal Art (medals)
Cracow, Bureau for Art Exhibitions (sculpture, medals)
1981
Toruń, Bureau for Art Exhibitions
Łódź, Bureau for Art Exhibitions
Bielsko-Biala, Bureau for Art Exhibitions
1982
Lublin, the Castle
1984
London, Polish Institute of Culture (sculpture, medals)
1985
Gonsbrouth, Town Hall (sculpture, medals)
1989
Dijon, Musee des Beaux-Arts (sculpture, medals)
Bonn, Kurek Gallery (sculpture, medals)
1990
Brussels, Galerie de I’Hotel Europe (sculpture, medals)
1991
Bydgoszcz, Bureau for Art Exhibitions (sculpture)
Kolobrzeg, Bureau for Art Exhibitions (sculpture)
1992
Louvain, Galerie de I’Art (sculpture)
1993
Hasselt, Cultureel Centrum (sculpture, painting, drawing)
Barcelona, Tuset Gallery (sculpture)
Gorzów, Bureau for Art Exhibitions
Kołobrzeg, GSW
1994
Bonn, Kurek Gallery (sculpture, drawing)
Bytom, Museum of Upper Silesia (sculpture, painting, drawing)
Major group exhibitions
- “Arsenal” (Warsaw, 1955)
- “Dunikowski and his Students” (Warsaw, 1956)
- “Exhibition of the Young” (Cracow, 1957)
- “Cracow Meetings,” 1965
- “Medal Art in the People’s Poland 1945— 1965” (Wroclaw, 1966)
- “International Exhibition of Medals” on the occasion of FIDEM Congress (Paris, Hotel de la Mannaine, 1967)
- “III Biennal Internacional del Deporte en las Bellas Artes” (Barcelona, Reales Atarazanas, 1971)
- “Sports in Medal Art” (Warsaw, Museum of Physical Culture and Tourism, 1972)
- “IV Biennal Internacional del Deporte en las Bellas Artes” (Madrid, Palacio de Cristal del Retivo, 1973)
- 1st International Dante Biennale of Art (Ravenna, 1973)
- Exhibition of the Winners of the Prize of the City of Cracow (Cracow, Historical Museum of the City of Cracow, 1974)
- “V Biennal Internacional del Deporte en las Bellas Artes (Barcelona, Reales Atarazanas, 1975)
- 16th FIDEM Congress “International Exlhbition of Contemporary Medallists” (Cracow, Wawel, 1975)
- Small Sculpture Biennale (Budapest, 1975)
- “Dunikowski and his Students” (Warsaw, Krolikarnia, 1975)
- “VI Biennal Internacional del Deporte en las Bellas Artes” (Madrid, Palacio de Exposiciones del Retivo, 1977)
- “Exhibition of Contemporary Polish Medal Art” (Biala Podlaska, Regional Museum, 1977)
- Contemporary Polish Medal Art 1944-1979 (Wroclaw, Museum of Medal Art, 1979)
- “Sports in Polish Art 1946-1978” (Szczecin, Castle of the Pomeranian Dukes, 1980)
- 42nd Biennale (Venice, 1986).
His works have frequently been on show at home and abroad: in Biala Podlaska, Cracow, Gdansk, Gorzów Wielkopolski, Katowice, Łódź, Olsztyn, Poznan, Sopot, Toruń, Warsaw, Wroclaw; Arezzo, Bilbao, Bratislava, Budapest, Cologne, Helsinki, Munich, Nuremberg, Oslo, Paris, Prague, Rieti, Skoplje, Sofia, and Weimar.
Prizes and distinctions
1954
2nd Prize in the competition for a monument to the Liberation of the City of Wroclaw
1955
Honourable mention in the competition for a monument to the Defenders of the Baltic Coast
1956
3rd Prize in the competition for a monument to the Heroes of Warsaw
1957
Honourable mention in the competition for a monument to the Heroes of Warsaw
1960
1st, 2nd, and 3rd Prizes in the competition for Cracow fountains
1962
3rd Prize in the 1st International Competition for a Franciscan Christ-Child’s Crib organised by the Ente Provincial per il Turismo di Rieti
1st Drawn Prize in the competition for a monument to the annihilated Jewish Population in Lublin
1964
Distinction on Poland’s Millennium
1966
Home Fair, Poznan, Silver Medal for doll designs
1967
1st Prize in the “Man and Labour” Competition
1st Prize in the competition for a monument to Freedom and Victory in Warsaw
1968
1st, 2nd, and 3rd Prize in the competition for medals on the 150th anniversary of the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow
Honourable mention for the most interesting design for a medal not yet struck, International Exhibition of the Contemporary Medal, Paris
2nd Prize in the Competition for a monument to the Heroes of the Pomeranian Embankment
1969
Chevalier’s Cross of the Order of the Rebirth of Poland
2nd Prize at the international competition for a sports medal, Arezzo
1970
1st Prize in the “Sculpture of the Year” Competition, Cracow
Distinction for the work for the welfare of Cracow
1971
2nd Prize for a design for a monument to Nicolaus Copernicus in Frombork
2nd Prize for the “Sports in Art” medal, Barcelona
1st and 2nd Prize in the “Sculpture of the Year” competition, Cracow
1972
Prize of the city of Cracow for his all artistic work and for the popularisation of Polish art abroad
1973
1st Prize and Gold Medal in the 1st International Dante Competition, Ravenna
1st Prize in the international competition for a monument to the Polish and Soviet Partisans in the Janowskie Forests
1st Prize in the competition on the 5th anniversary of the Museum of Medal Art in Wroclaw
Medal on the bicentenary of the Committee for National Education
1974
Officer’s Cross of the Order of the Rebirth of Poland
1st class prize of the Ministry of National Defence for the monument to the Polish and Soviet Partisans in the Janowskie Forests
Honorary Distinction of Merit for the contribution to the development of the region of Lublin
1975
Main Drawn Prize at the 3rd International Small Sculpture Biennale in Budapest
Three Special Prizes at the international medallic exhibition during the 16th FIDEM Congress, Cracow
1976
Grand Prix and Gold Medal in the sculpture section of the exhibition-cum-competition “Sports in Art,” Katowice
One of the main prizes in the “Sculpture of the Year” competition, Cracow
1977
1st Prize for a set of medals in the “Man and Labour” competition; Distinction of Merit for Cultural Activity
2nd Prize for a design for a monument to the Polish Combatants, Paris
1978
1st-class Prize of the Ministry of National Defence for the monument to the Polish Soldiers in Katowice
Gold Badge of Merit awarded by the province of Katowice
1979
1st-class State Prize for his all artistic work
1980
The W. Pietrzak Prize of the PAX Association for his all artistic work
Silver Medal of Merit for the Contribution to the Country’s Defences
1984
Medal on the 40th anniversary of the People’s Poland
Gold Medal for the Contribution to the Country’s Defences
1985
Gold Badge of Merit awarded by the province of Nowy Sącz
1986
Medal of Merit for the Contribution to National Culture
1987
Order of Friendship Between Nations
1988
Gold Badge of Merit for the contribution to the welfare of the region of Cracow
1989
Commander’s Cross of the Order of the Rebirth of Poland
1992
Gold Medal for the Protection of Sites of National Memory
1993
Honorary Cross of the Peasant Battalions
Honorary Distinction of the Union of Disabled Soldiers
Commissions
1963
Monumental sculpture Auschwitz Pieta
1969
Wawel Dragon sculpture, Cracow
1970
Tombstone of Nikifor, Krynica
Players Fountain, Cracow, Wolica Square
1974
Monument to the Polish and Soviet Partisans on the Porytowe Hill in the Janowskie Forests
1978
Monument to the Polish Soldiers, Katowice
1979
Monument to the 1st Municipal Commune, Czeladź
1981
Monument to Pope John Paul II, Tarnów
1983
Monument to Bronisław Czech, Cracow, Academy of Physical Education
1984
Monument to the Polish and Soviet Brotherhood in Arms, Ryazan
1985
Monumental doors devoted to the Life of Maksymilian Kolbe, Tarnów
Monument to the Victorious Defenders, Krynica
1987
Monument In Honour of the Polish Soldiers Fallen in the Battle of Britain, International Military Cemetery in Brookwood near London
1989
Monument to Bartosz Glowacki at Radziennice near Raclawice
Monument to the Polish Airmen Fallen on All the Fronts of World War II, Cracow
1992
Monument to the Soldiers of Militant Poland, Cracow
Major Prizes in Competitions for Monument Designs
1954
Monument to the Liberation of Wrocław, Wrocław
1957
Monument to the Heroes of Warsaw, Warsaw
1958
Monument to the Shot, Kuźnice
1962
Monument to the Annihilated Jewish Population, Lublin
1967
Monument to Victory and Freedom, Warsaw (with Andrzej Kurkiewicz)
Monument to the Return of Western and Northern Territories to Poland, Wrocław
1968
Monument to the Heroes of the Pomeranian Embankment
1969
Monument to Khan Asparukh
1971
Monument to Nicolaus Copernicus in Frombork (with Jerzy Pilitowski)
1974
Monument to Frederic Chopin, London
1977
Monument to the Polish Combatants, Paris
1988
Monument to Bartosz Głowacki
His works are in the collections of the National Museum in Warsaw, National Museum in Cracow, National Museum in Poznań, Museum of Medal Art in Wrocław, Museum of Upper Silesia in Bytom, Silesian Museum in Katowice, and museums in Auschwitz, Paris, Copenhagen, Moscow, Skoplje, Helsinki, Barcelona, Dijon, Ravenna, Hasselt, Bochum, and Arezzo, and in private collections at home and abroad, in Australia, Japan and Canada.