Lwów Adam Mickiewicz monument sculpted by Popiel

Popiel ( Sulima Popiel ) Antoni ( 1865-1910 ), sculptor. Born on June 13 in Szczakowa, son of Antoni and Antonina Stanicek, younger brother of Tadeusz (vid.), a painter. Attended schools in Brody and Lwów, but dropped out and joined a School of Arts in Kraków. He was a student of Wladyslaw Luszczkiewicz, Izydor Jablonski and Walery Gadomski. In 1885 to 1888 studied in Vienna at the Academy of Art under E. v. Hellmer and in Austrian Museum of Arts under O. Koenig. After a trip to Berlin and Florence he came back to Poland in 1888. At the beginning he lived in Kraków, where he had exhibitions in 1891 to 1894 at Art Society (TPSP), later he moved to Lwów, where he was given a position of associate professor in Technical Institute, as a teacher of drawing and modeling in professor Marconi's class.

He married Maria Cipriana, a daughter of professor Marconi in 1895 and went to 2-year trip to Florence. In those years he made a sculpture called Justice, an allegory figure for the Hall of Justice and a monument of Jozef Korzeniowski. in Brody. After his Italy trip he spent several months in Warszawa, where he designed a facade of the building called Zacheta, Society of Arts. After that he came back to Lwów, taking over the position after his father-in-law, prof. Marconi, with a title of Docent and later Professor Extraordinaire. In 1898 he sculpted a bust of Jedrzej Sniadecki fot Laboratory of Chemistry of the Lwów University.

In 1899 he was elected to the Board of Directors of the Lwów Society of Arts. In 1899-1900 he sculpted parts of the facade of the City Theatre (Fame, Music and Poetry) and of the Railroad Station and a bust of Henryk Rodakowski for a facade of the Kraków Society of Arts, from  Planty Street.

Kosciuszko's monument in Washington, USA

In 1901 he sculpted a monument of Kornel Ujejski (after WWII moved from Lwów to Szczecin), then a monument of Adam Mickiewicz in Lwów (1904) and in Krynica (1906). After Marconi's death Popiel finished a monument of Kosciuszko mounted on the horse, moved after WWI to Krakow (Wawel). Apart from that he sculpted tens of religious figures (Pieta in the chapel of Potockis in Lancut), allegoric and mythological and portraits (Jozef Chmielinski, Bronislaw Radziszewski, Michal Michalski, Marceli Nenecki). Photographies of his sculptures were often printed in the contemporary press. In 1907 his project for the monument of Kosciuszko in Washington was awarded 2nd place and commissioned. Popiel went to Chicago and worked on the monument for 2 years. However, before the grand opening he must have gone back home due to sickness. Died on July 7, 1910 in Lubien, where he was hospitalized. Buried with festivities on July 9, on in the Lyczakow Cemetery, Lwów. His daughter Jadwiga died in childhood. Other daughter, Gabriela, married to Feliks Pohorecki, died in 1974.

Several sculptures of Popiel and his portrait of Tadeusz Popiel are owned by Jozef Matejkiewicz in Krakow; - Grajewski, Bibliografia ilustracji; Enc. XX w.; W. Enc. Powsz. (PWN); Swieykowski, Pam.Tow. Przyj. Sztuk Pieknych; Thiem- Becker, Lexicon d. Kunstler; Vollmer, Kunstler Lexicon;- Pamietnik uroczystosci polskich w Waszyngtonie w r. 1910, Oprac. R. Piatkowski, Chicago 1911 (fot.); Polska, jej dzieje I kultura, W.[1931] III 802-3; Pol. Zycie artyst. W 1. 1890-190; Wroblewski K., Zasady piekna w sztuce, Brody 1904;- Mater. Do dziej. Akad. Sztuk Pieknych;- " Czas" 1894 nr z 24 II, 27 II, 1896 nr z 23 V, 13 VII, 1901nr z 9 XI, 9 XII; "Slowo Pol." 1910 nr z 10 VII; "Tyg. Ilustr." 1904 s. 866;- Informacje Jozefy Matejkiewicz w Krakowie.

Piotr Blonski

Translation from Polish to English: sp

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