Childhood and youth

From a very young age , Maciej was surrounded by music and the arts; his uncles were well-known and highly regarded artists: Józef Piotrowski ( Tadeusz’s brother) and Roman Orszulski ( Irena’s brother).

Piotrowski attended the Henryk Sienkiewicz State Grammar School No. 4 in Kraków and the Kraków Conservatoire, where he learnt to play the piano. In 1939, he obtained his school-leaving certificate. The outbreak of the Second World War prevented Piotrowski from continuing his education at the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts, where he had intended to study painting. On 3 September, he volunteered for the 5th ‘Kraków’ Armoured Battalion, with which he took part in the September Campaign. He was subsequently interned at the Zebegeny camp in Hungary , where he was granted permission to study painting under Róbert Berény near Budapest. However, as early as December 1939, he made his way to Yugoslavia and then on to Italy. Eventually, he reached France, where he was recruited into the 2nd Rifle Squadron under the command of Brigadier General Bronisław Prugar-Ketling. The squadron joined the 45th Corps of the French Army, alongside which it repelled attacks by German armoured units in gruelling and fruitless battles at Saint-Hippolyte, Maîche, Damprichard and Tréviller. Faced with dwindling ammunition supplies and the disarray and destabilisation of the 45th Corps, the decision was taken for the 2nd Rifle Squadron to cross the Swiss border on the night of 19–20 June 1940. Over 12,000 Polish soldiers were interned. The division was dispersed throughout Switzerland, Piotrowski was sent to the university camp (Hochschullager) in Winterthur, where he remained from November 1940. As the internees were allowed to attend lectures at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), he began studying architecture under the guidance of O. R. Salvisberg, William Dunkel and Otto Baumberger. He then attended lectures on archaeology and art history by Linus Birchler , before finally deciding to specialise in sculpture under the guidance of Hans Gisler .

Switzerland and his artistic career

In 1944, Piotrowski married a Swiss woman, Anna Brandenberger, thereby establishing permanent ties with the country. He set up his first sculpture studio on Jonas-Furrer-Strasse in Winterthur , and one of his first commissions was a wooden sculpture entitled ‘The Normandy Landings’ for the Polish Museum in Rapperswil ( 1944, Polish Museum, Rapperswil).

In 1946, together with a group of artists from Winterthur, he held his first exhibition at the local Kunstmuseum . Sculptures from the 1940s include bronze portraits of the painter Albert Bosshard ( 1945, private collection) and the composer Richard Strauss ( 1947, private collection).

Between 1946 and 1951 he worked at the Migros Klubschule in Winterthur as a teacher of modelling , sculpture and drawing, and then resumed this work in 1966 . He taught with great dedication and passion, and in the years that followed he also organised an arts forum.

In 1951, Mathis Piotrowski and his family moved to a house with a spacious studio in Hard-Wulflingen , where he was able to undertake larger projects. In the early 1950s, he created sculptures such as the cherry wood piece ‘Polish Summer’ / ‘Polnischer Sommer’ ( 1950, work destroyed), *Christus* made from pear wood (1951, family collection) and a bronze *portrait of Pablo Casals* ( 1952, owned by the Musikkollegium Winterthur). To create the portrait of the Catalan cellist, Piotrowski travelled to his home in Prades. The time spent with Casals also resulted in an article which Mathis wrote for the *Winterthur Arbeiterzeitung* ( 23 February 1952).

His career as a sculptor was gaining momentum; in 1952 , Piotrowski held his first solo exhibition at the Gewerbemuseum in Winterthur. The following year, Mathis began receiving larger public commissions. His first commission was a bronze sculpture placed in front of the entrance to a co-operative pharmacy in Winterthur ( 1953), depicting two children drinking from a snake coiled at their knees. The second sculpture – *White Bear* / *Eisbar* from 1957 – was installed in the garden of a nursery school in Winterthur. That year, Piotrowski, after 17 years, was granted Swiss citizenship . This enabled him to take part in national and international competitions.

In 1961, Piotrowski received a major commission to create a large-scale sculpture for the Gutschick housing estate (Winterthur). He designed a pair of acrobats , 6.20 metres tall , set on a plinth several metres high. To realise such an ambitious and demanding project, the artist used aluminium sheets welded using the oxygen-free welding method . The use of this material ensured that the sculpture was strong, lightweight and stable. In an interview for *Panorama Północy* (1967, no. 3), Mathis Piotrowski described this technique as follows:

“Through the planes created by the joints and bends in the plates, I make use of ultraviolet rays and – do not be surprised – also the expertise of a skilled welder. I recently used the ‘surface’ technique to create the sculpture *Acrobats*, installed in a new residential district in Winterthur.”

The catalogue, in turn, includes a description of the creation of *Acrobats*, in which the artist recalls the difficulties involved in precisely cutting the metal sheets and determining their thickness:

“It was particularly important here to take the thickness of the material into account. A misalignment, even by a few fractions of a millimetre when joining the surfaces, caused such significant three-dimensional errors that the difference could already be measured in decimetres a few centimetres higher up. In such cases, tracing the source of the error proved particularly difficult and often involved several days’ work, as all the surfaces were continuously ‘stitched’ together.”

The actual welding, once the figures had been positioned and ‘stitched’ together, did not present any major difficulties. Once the two figures had been welded individually, they were placed one on top of the other and welded together.

The sculpture *Acrobats* was unveiled in the spring of 1963. Seen in person, it makes a striking impression and harmonises perfectly with the surrounding high-rise residential blocks.

In the years that followed, Piotrowski continued his exploration of aluminium . During this period, he created sculptures in which he experimented with the thickness of the welds, turning them into a decorative element. The sculptures *Dreaming Clown* (*Verträumter Clown*) ( 1962, private collection), *Clown Study* ( 1962, family collection), and *Witch* ( 1963, family collection) are examples of this.

Subsequently, the artist used aluminium for his compositions of abstract forms . These included: Wrack ( 1964, work destroyed), Distel ( 1964, work destroyed), *Flamme* ( 1965, private collection) and *Puzzle* ( 1970, family collection). In his later works, however, Piotrowski used this material for a series of sculptures depicting geese in flight . The motif of the migratory bird evoked associations for the artist with his homeland, Polish folklore and folk art. It also served as a pretext for studying self-supporting compositions, the rhythmic structures of the work and the depiction of movement. Examples of this include Geese/ Schwäne ( undated, Winterthur), the relief Flight of Geese/ Fliegende Schwäne ( 1963, Winterthur), *Birds/Vögel* ( undated, Polish Aviation Museum in Kraków) and *Take-off/Aufflug* ( 1974, Winterthur). Perhaps these served as preparation for the artist before he undertook a more ambitious project – capturing a human figure in flight. In the interview quoted above, the artist confided:

“For quite some time now, I have been fascinated by the idea of capturing certain characteristic movements or gestures. (…) However, my greatest dream is to find an artistic synthesis of human flight—a human being who has overcome their own weight, broken free from the Earth, and has now entered space. I shall regard the achievement of this aim as the greatest work of my life.”

In 1964 , Piotrowski held his second solo exhibition at the Gewerbemuseum in Winterthur . In the same year, the artist, together with Rolf Lipski from Zurich and Eugenio Eichenberger from Winterthur, exhibited his works at the Society of Friends of the Fine Arts in Kraków. He organised his third exhibition in his studio in 1966, during which he presented around 40 drawings and sculptures from the previous five years. The next exhibition, which was to take place at the Zachęta in Warsaw, was scheduled for September 1968. Despite Mathis’s lengthy preparations , it never took place, because, as the catalogue states, the artist cancelled it in protest against the invasion of Czechoslovakia by Warsaw Pact troops.

The second half of the 1960s was a period of prolific output and success for the artist. In 1966, Mathis won a competition to create a decoration for a school building in the village of Rickenbach . He then created the metal sculpture *Odlot/Aufflugi* , which was installed in front of the building in 1968. Between 1967 and 1968 , Piotrowski created a monument for the Polish Embassy in Zurich to commemorate the soldiers of the 2nd Infantry Rifle Squadron who died in Switzerland , which was unveiled at the military cemetery in Leysin-Lorrets on 1 November 1968. This is the sculpture for which Piotrowski had the greatest affection. In 1967, he was awarded first prize at the International Sculpture Competition in Zurich for his sculpture ‘Growing Crystal’ .

During this period, Piotrowski produced a series of sculptures depicting the atrocities of war . A telling example is the oak sculpture *Abel* ( 1966, now destroyed), depicting the bust of a young soldier who has eye sockets instead of eyes, and a large hole where his heart and head should be. Other examples of sculptures relating to the theme of war included *Warszawa/Warschau* ( 1966, work destroyed) and the iron sculpture *Diabelska monstrancja / Des Teufels Monstranz* ( 1967, in the family’s collection). Also in his drawings, Arc de Triomphe / Arc de Triomphe (1966, private collection) and Riders of the Moon / Mondreiter ( 1966, private collection), the artist’s message about the cruelty of war and the loss of humanity is stark. He also criticised current socio-political issues, as reflected in works such as: Strike/ Streik ( 1964, private collection), Parade/Parade ( 1969, family collection) and Border/Grenze ( 1973, private collection).

Furthermore, sculptures from the 1960s include the marble ‘Leżąca/Liegende’ ( 1967, private collection) and ‘Szczupak/ Pike ( 1968, family collection) and the Dolphin/ Delphin ( 1968, family collection), carved from oak and finished with a white gold patina.

In 1970, Mathis Piotrowski organised the aforementioned art forum at the Migros Klubschule . At these meetings, he lectured his students on art history, enriching his discourse with current events in the art world. He also taught art history at the vocational school in Winterthur , for which he created the sculpture ‘Wzlot’/‘Aufflug’ ( 1974). In 1972, he was named as one of 64 award-winning artists in a nationwide competition for the artistic design of courtyards and terraces for the new Federal Administration buildings at Taubenhalde in Bern. In 1973, his work *Forget-me-nots* was awarded a prize in the ‘Let’s Create Together’ competition organised by the magazine *POLSKA/POLAND* , thereby appearing on the cover of the magazine’s ninth issue.

In the years that followed, Piotrowski created a series of anecdotal drawings: *Rybaczka/Fischermädchen* ( 1974, family collection), *Gęsia dziewczyna/ Gänsemädchen * (1974, family collection), ‘Rising Sun’/‘Aufgehende Sonne’ ( 1974, private collection), ‘Night’/‘Nacht’ ( 1976, private collection). As for his sculptures, he created the marble ‘Snake’/ Schlange ( 1975, family collection), in which he masterfully brought out its tense form, combining the rough texture of the animal’s skin with the polished, gleaming surface of its head.

In 1977, he created a multi-dimensional, abstract sculpture entitled World in the Heart/ Welt im Herz for the municipality of Weisslingen . As stated in the catalogue:

“The sculpture (…) exudes something cheerful and poetic. It is the artist’s call to children to take the world into their hearts. It is a call for love and peace, not only for the little ones, but for all people; the artist knew only too well what war and peace are.”

The last public commission he completed was the sculpture *Bear Playing with a Ball* (*Eisbär*) for the Niederfeld housing estate in the Wülflingen district of Winterthur ( 1957). Piotrowski’s intention was to create a sculpture that children could play with. Made of aluminium, the figure of the animal lying on its back and holding a ball in its paws can rotate on its base like a carousel. The sculpture’s openwork design allows children to squeeze through the bear’s paws, whilst the material makes it easy to clean in the event of any vandalism.

In 1978 , after a break of several years, Piotrowski visited Poland . During this visit, he gave a short interview to Telewizja Polska. It was his last visit to his homeland. On 14 October 1978, aged 58, he was killed in a car accident along with his wife. He left behind four children: Irena, Katharina, Stefan and Gabriela. Posthumously, Mathis Piotrowski was awarded the Medal of the Guardian of National Memorial Sites and the Medal of Merit for Polish Culture.

In 1980 (8 March–20 April) , an exhibition commemorating the artist was organised at the Gewerbemuseum in Winterthur , featuring 30 sculptures and 80 drawings and sketches created after 1946.

Characteristics of his work

Mathis Maciej Piotrowski was a versatile, independent artist who did not belong to any particular group. His works were prized for their dynamism, finesse and craftsmanship. One could sense in them Polish-Romantic roots combined with Swiss austerity and restraint. In a short note published in *Przekrój* (1978, no. 1751), the author quotes an excerpt from a letter Piotrowski wrote to a friend:

“Love for my country, for my homeland – this is the strongest of all the motivations to which I owe everything I have achieved.”

As a draughtsman, he mainly used pencil or charcoal, and less frequently tempera and chalk. As a sculptor, he worked in many materials, employing various techniques. He commented on the choice of material and the subject matter of his work as follows:

“Sculpture, widely regarded as one of the most difficult arts, involves a long and thankless period of practice. Without mastering the technique – which, I ask you not to confuse with academicism – there can be no question of art in this case. For me, the period of overcoming technical difficulties was particularly arduous, as I work equally with wood, stone, plaster and various metals.

I do not have any favourite subjects. My creative intent is dictated by my experiences, whilst the concept of the artistic form is determined by the material, each of which offers different possibilities for the play of light and colour.”

In his family’s recollections, Mathis Piotrowski is described as a man who took great care to maintain his impeccable appearance and expected the same of others. He was very temperamental and impatient. He was always intensely focused on his art, which he practised with the utmost care and a great passion for his craft. In the interview already cited, he revealed:

“I consider many of my works, created between 1942 and 1958, to be unsatisfactory. It has even reached the point where I sometimes persistently seek out sculptures from that period in order to smash them to pieces, to destroy them completely—so very dissatisfied am I with them.”

Some of the works are held in the collections of family members, primarily by the artist’s son , Stefan Piotrowski, who also keeps an extensive archive comprising sketches, documents, photographs and newspaper cuttings. The remaining works belong to the city of Winterthur or are held in private collections.

It is worth noting here that, in the case of most of Piotrowski’s public sculptures and reliefs, there is no plaque providing information about the artist. One exception is the bas-relief *The Swimmer/Die Schwimmerin* located on the municipal swimming pool building in Rickenbach. In the case of the sculpture ‘Bear Playing with a Ball’, the artist’s signature ‘M. Piot.‘78’ is visible. Similarly, he left his signature on the altar created in 1958 for the Roman Catholic Church of St Laurent ( Winterthur, Wülfingerstrasse/Oberfeldweg 28).

In writing this text, conversations with family members – Stefan (son), Gabriela (daughter) and Diana (granddaughter) – proved to be an invaluable source of information. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them most sincerely for all their help and cooperation.