Jan Cykowski (1915–2006), Athlete

Biography
He began his artistic education at the State School of Wood Industry in Zakopane. After the war, he studied sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, where he received his diploma in 1953. In the 1950s, he created sculptures in the spirit of Socialist Realism; after the Gomułka Thaw, he remained faithful to the realist style. The human figure was the central motif of his work. He addressed the theme of labor (The Spinner), the struggle for Poland’s liberation (figures of soldiers with weapons), and was interested in portraiture as well as male and female nudes. He expressed himself through both small-scale and monumental sculpture. He designed monuments to figures distinguished in the field of culture (including Fryderyk Chopin, Stanisław Moniuszko, and Nicolaus Copernicus), most of which were never realized. He depicted these figures in a traditional manner—standing or seated on a high pedestal. He is best known for his monument to Stanisław Moniuszko in Racibórz (a bronze cast), unveiled in 1961. From the 1950s onward, he collaborated with the Fine Arts Studios in Warsaw, which, under state patronage, brought together experienced and outstanding artists from various disciplines to work on projects related to the country’s postwar reconstruction. Here, both sculptures adorning postwar architecture—including the Palace of Culture and Science—and monuments were designed and created. In the Warsaw sculpture studio of the Fine Arts Workshops, artists such as Alfons Karny and Jan Szczepkowski worked alongside Jan Cykowski. In the 1960s, Jan Cykowski was a member of several committees—including, among others, alongside Prof. Stanisław Lorenz (director of the National Museum), Jerzy Grabowski (chairman of the Public Fund for the Reconstruction of the Capital), Marshal Marian Spychalski (associated with the Public Fund for the Reconstruction of the Capital), and Marek Kwiatkowski (curator of the Royal Łazienki) — which oversaw the reconstruction of the palace in Królikarnia to serve as the headquarters of the Xawery Dunikowski Museum.