Andrzej Krystyn Wróblewski (Polish pronunciation: ; 15 June 1927 – 23 March 1957) was a Polish figurative painter who died in a

mountaineering Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become mounta ...

accident in 1957 when he was only 29. He is recognized by many as one of Poland's most prominent artists in the early post

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

era, creating a distinctly

individualistic Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, and social outlook that emphasizes the intrinsic worth of the individual. Individualists promote realizing one's goals and desires, valuing independence and self-reliance, and a ...

approach to

representational art Representation is the use of signs that stand in for and take the place of something else.Mitchell, W. 1995, "Representation", in F Lentricchia & T McLaughlin (eds), ''Critical Terms for Literary Study'', 2nd edn, University of Chicago Press, Chica ...

Biography

Wróblewski was born in

Wilno Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

(modern Vilnius) on 15 June 1927, the son of law professor Bronisław Wróblewski from the

Stefan Batory University Vilnius University (Lithuanian language, Lithuanian: ''Vilniaus universitetas'') is a Public university, public research university, which is the first and largest university in Lithuania, as well as one of the oldest and most prominent higher e ...

and the painter Krystyna Wróblewska. He showed artistic talent at a very young age. His education was interrupted by the

German invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

, although he was able to attend some underground courses; his mother introduced him to the art of

woodcut Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that ...

which he practiced from 1944 to 1946.Andrzej Wróblewski
at culture.pl Immediately after the end of World War II, following the shifting of Poland's national borders, his family moved from Wilno to

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

, where he passed the

matura or its translated terms (''mature'', ''matur'', , , , , ', ) is a Latin name for the secondary school exit exam or "maturity diploma" in various European countries, including Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech ...

exams and became a student in the Painting and Sculpture Department of Poland's oldest art school, the Academy of Fine Arts, where he studied between 1945 and 1952 under Zygmunt Radnicki, Zbigniew Pronaszko (pl),

Hanna Rudzka-Cybisowa Hanna Rudzka-Cybisowa (1897-1988) was a Polish artist and teacher. Biography Rudzka-Cybisowa was born on 27 June 1897 in Mława, Poland. She studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw where she was taught by Miłosz Kotarbiński. In 1923 R ...

and Jerzy Fedkowicz. Also between 1945 and 1948 he simultaneously studied art history at the

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by Casimir III the Great, King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the List of oldest universities in con ...

, Poland's oldest university (and one of the oldest in the world).

1945–1949

Through exploration in art Wroblewski devised his own formal style, with his own artistic interpretation, revealed in one of his most famous works ''Executions'' dating from the late 1940s illustrating his heightened expressiveness and metaphorical abilities depicting real life events. He was also highly interested in art theoretician and

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

critique at times, since 1948 publishing articles in ''Głos Plastyków'' ("Artists' Voice"), '' Przegląd Artystyczny'' ("Arts Review"), ''

Twórczość ''Twórczość'' (, Creativity, or Creative Output) is a Polish monthly literary journal, first published in 1945. Since 1 April 2000, ''Twórczość'' has been published by the state-funded Book Institute (Instytut Książki).Gazeta Krakowska The (, full title ) is the largest regional daily newspaper in Kraków, Poland, published five times a week in that city. Gazeta Krakowska was established on 15 February 1949. It features articles about politics, business, economy, popular hist ...

'' (Kraków's Newspaper) and ''

Życie Literackie ''Życie'' (, "Life") was an illustrated weekly established in 1897 and published in Kraków and Lwów in the Austrian partition of Poland. Founded by Ludwik Szczepański, with time it became one of the most popular Polish literary and artisti ...

'' ("Literary Life").

Last years

In the early 1950s in the

People's Republic of Poland The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland, was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland. ...

Wróblewski adopted the state-favoured style of socrealism. After the death of Soviet premier

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

and resulting

destalinization De-Stalinization () comprised a series of political reforms in the Soviet Union after the death of long-time leader Joseph Stalin in 1953, and the thaw brought about by ascension of Nikita Khrushchev to power, and his 1956 secret speech "On t ...

lessened governmental pressures on various spheres of life, art included. Wroblewski died in a mountaineering accident in Tatry on 23 March 1957. He was the author of over 150

oil painting Oil painting is a painting method involving the procedure of painting with pigments combined with a drying oil as the Binder (material), binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on canvas, wood panel, or oil on coppe ...

s, 1400 drawings, dozens of other art forms and over 80 published articles. His works are featured in the collections of many Polish museums and exhibitions.

Art market

In November 2021, his painting titled ''Two Married Women'' (

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

: "Dwie mężatki") was sold at an auction in Warsaw for a record 13.4 million zloty (ca. US$3.2 million) becoming at the time the most expensive work of art sold on the Polish market. It was painted in 1949 and is part of the artists' ''Societal Contrasts'' series. It is considered an iconic work of Polish post-war art.

Notes

References

* Feliks Szyszko
"Impact of History on Polish Art in the Twentieth Century"
essay on Wroblewski's role and contribution illustrated with painting "Execution V" at Info-Poland.Buffalo.edu
Gallery of selected 5 paintings
at Info-Poland.Buffalo.edu

Short bio with 2 pictures
at Artyzm.com
Andrzej Wróblewski, czyli spór artysty z rzeczywistością
in

Przekrój ''Przekrój'' (; ''Cross-section'') was the oldest Polish weekly newsmagazine in operation, established in 1945 in Kraków. After temporary closure in 2013, it was bought by photographer Tomasz Niewiadomski and subsequently relaunched in December ...

, 21/2006.
Biography, gallery of pictures

Nieznany Wróblewski - essay

Wróblewski or the Unwillingness to Reconcile Contradictions

Andrzej Wróblewski biography on Culture.pl