Why the Józef Piłsudski Memorial Failed to Be Installed in Warsaw Before the Second World War

Abstract

The article presents the outcome of research on the 1936 and 1939 competitions for a Józef Piłsudski memorial in Warsaw. On the basis of discovered archival documentation, drawings and photographs (of which part had never been examined before 2018), the author analysed the proceedings of the ultimately unresolved competition – the votings, the process of discerning the best entries, the argumentation of the jury members – and discussed the submitted design proposals and maquettes. Queries in museums and archives in Zagreb led to the author's discovery of previously unknown guidelines and designs for a Józef Piłsudski memorial by the Croatian sculptor Ivan Meštrović. His design proposal was assessed outside of the competition, but was nonetheless exhibited along with the submitted works at a show on 6 August 1939 at the National Museum in Warsaw. Since that time, Meštrović’s sculptures have remained part of the NMW’s collection.