AReviewofDonaldMartinReynolds'Pitynski
“Amonumentisanexpressivesymbol.Agoodone,lookedatforevenafewminutes,
willremaininmemoryforyearsorevenforanentirelifetime.Monumentsarethe
milestonesinanation’shistory.” –AndrewPitynski
OnBostonCommononcestoodagiganticsculptureofgauntsoldiersriding
emaciatedhorses,spearspointedtothesky.ThesoldiersarePolishpartisans
resistingJosephStalin.AstatueofMarieCurie,wearinghertwoNobelPrizemedals,
standsinfrontoftheBayonnePublicLibraryinNewJersey.Thealuminumportrait
bustofaproud,sadFrederickChopinstaresatavisitorinanartist’sstudioin
Poland.
Thesearejustahandfulofthe200sculptures,commemorativemedals,and
portraitbustscreatedbythePolish‐AmericansculptorAndrewPitynskithatcanbe
foundinDonaldMartinReynolds’splendidandbeautifullyillustratednew
biographyForOurFreedomandYours:TheArtandLifeofAndrewPitynski:Portrait
ofanAmericanMaster.
ReynoldsbringstoPitynskyialifetimeofstudyingsculpture,abeliefinthe
importanceofmonuments,andacommitmenttothefigureandrealism.
“Monuments,”Reynoldswrites,“whenproperlycelebrated,canbecomeforces
withinsocietyfortheperpetuationoftraditionsandhumanvalues.”Toresearch
Pitynski,ReynoldstravelledtoPoland,interviewedPitynski’sfamilyandfriends,
walkedthroughcemeteries,touredbattlefields,visitedthesculptor’sclassrooms
andstudios,andimmersedhimselfinthecraftofshapingthehumanfigureoutof
metalandclay.
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Theresultisavivid,oftentragicfamilyhistory,acompellingpersonal
biography,andanodysseythroughPoland’spainfulpast,filledwithwar,
imprisonment,tyranny,andtorture.ThebookisalsoacelebrationofPolish
resistanceandresilience.Itiselegant,nearly500pagesfilledwithhistorical
photographs,hundredsofPitynski’setchesandcharcoaldrawings,portraitbusts,
reliefs,commemorativemedals,andmonumentalsculptures.Theendnotestestifyto
Reynolds'diligentresearch,andthedetailedexplanationsofPitynski’sintricateart
demonstrateReynolds'criticalacumen.
Clearly,ReynoldsisadmiringofPitynki’scraft,whichhesays,“…produceda
figurativestyleblendingexpressivemodelingwithmonumentalcomposition.”He
praisesPitynski’smessage,whichhedescribesasa“…celebrationofPoland’s
legendaryandeternalfightforhumankind’spersonalanduniversalfreedom.”
Reynoldsstartsbytellingthefascinatingstoryofhowayoungman,
maroonedinCommunistPoland,becameanartist.Pitynskicomesfroma
distinguishedPolishfamily.EmbeddedinhisDNAarehorses,rafting,fishing,
Catholicism,andafierceresistancetoPoland’smanyoppressors,particularlythe
CommunistswhoshotPitynski’sgrandmotherandcaptured,imprisoned,and
torturedhisfather.Oneofthemostpowerfulimagesinthebookisthebronze
portraitbustofhisfather,hisfaceclearlybatteredbybeatings,hisgazestubborn
anddefiant.
UnderCommunistrule,Pitynskistruggledtogetaneducationandfindhis
artisticvoice.Anelementaryschoolteacherrecognizedhistalentandahighschool
principalencouragedhisdefiance.ThoughdiscouragedbyCommunistofficials,
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Pytnskipersisted,remembering,“IknewmydaywouldcomewhenIcouldspeak
outthroughmyart.”Eventually,hewasadmittedtotheprestigiousCracow
AcademyofFineArts,whichinthewordsofReynoldswas“…aformalandtangible
affirmationofthevitalityandcontinuityofPolishculture…”
AttheCracowAcademy,Pitynskilearnedthecraftofbronzecasting,studied
Polishfolkart,tookafewlessonsfrom“socialistrealism,”andtriedtoignorethe
Communistmessagehedetested.Bychance,in1974heobtainedavisatoAmerica.
Heremembers:“AsIsteppedontothatAmericanplaneonOctober3,1974,Ilooked
backandsmiledtomyself.IknewthatIwouldneverreturntothatPoland,tothose
Communistbastards.Andforthefirsttimeinmylife,Ifeltreallyfree.”
Pitynskiworkedindemolition,madecontacts,andtaughtartandsculpture
atschoolsinPrinceton,NewJersey,andGreenpoint,Brooklyn.Hereceived
commissionsandcametotheattentionofSewardJohnson,America’sforemost
artisan/entrepreneur.JohnsonfoundedtheInternationalSculptureCenterof
Hamilton,NewJersey,andisknownforhislife‐sizedsculpturesofordinarypeople
engagedinday‐to‐dayactivities.Thesesculpturescanbefoundincitiesallover
America.JohnsonencouragedPitnyskitocreatehismonumentalpartisanstatueon
theBostonCommon.AttheendoftheColdWar,asPolandmoveditselftowards
independenceandself‐determination,Johnsoncommissionedamoreheroicversion
forhissculpturegardensinNewJersey.
WhileJohnson’ssculpturesreflectademocratic,humdrumsocietyatpeace,
Pitynski’sworkemergesfromanationpartitionedandinvadedinthe19thCentury
byPrussiaandAustriaandinthe20thCenturybyGermanyandRussia–anation
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familiarwithStukabombers,secretpolice,adevastatedWarsaw,andaCommunist
dictatorship.
Pitynskihaschosentorepresenthisnation’scalamity:Chopin’sexile,the
1940KatynMassacreofPolishofficersandintellectualsbyRussia,thedeportation
ofPolishmenandwomentoSiberia,theGermanandRussiantorturechambers,the
bittercivilwarandundergroundresistancethatcontinuedafter1945.
Simultaneously,Pitynskiportrayswithpainstakingresearchandhistorical
accuracyhisnation’scommitmenttoresistanceandfreedom.Healsoportraysits
heroes:JanPaderewski,thefamouspianistwhopersuadedWoodrowWilsonin
1920toincludeanindependentPolandinhisFourteenPoints;JanKarski,thePolish
resistancefighter,whofirstalertedtheworldtotherealityoftheNazideathcamps;
andPopeJohnPaulwho,alongwiththepartisans,helpedendCommunistrule.
WhydoesPitnyski’sworkmattertoAmericans?TherearePolishAmericans
livinginGreenpoint,Brooklyn;inDoylestown,Pennsylvania;ontheLowerEastSide
ofManhattan;inChicago’sSouthEnd;andspreadoutinMilwaukee.Theyandtheir
ancestorsfleddeprivationandtyranny.TheyrememberPoland’scatastrophic20th
century,offercommissionstoanartistwhoremembershishomeland,andattend
thededicationofhismonuments.
PitynskialsocelebratesPoleswhofoughtforAmerica’sfreedom.Inmedals
hecelebratesKazimierzPulaski,thefatherofAmericanCavalrywho,asReynolds
notes,wrotetoGeorgeWashington:“Icamehere,wherefreedomisbeingdefended,
toserveit,andtoliveordieforit.”InSt.Petersburg,Florida,abronze,eight‐foot
highstatureofThaddeusKosciuszkostandsontopofagranitebase.Anengineer,
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KosciuszkodesignedthefortificationsalongtheHudsonRiveratWestPoint.Heis
portrayedinmilitaryuniform,hisrightarmthrustingforwardhisfamouswillin
whichheleaveshisentireestatetotheNegroesofAmericasothattheycouldbe
free,educatedandassimilated.OfKosciuszkoJeffersonsaid:“Heisaspureasonof
liberty,asIhaveeverknownandofthatlibertywhichistogotoall,andnottothe
feworrichalone.”Pitynskiremindsusheisengagedinaneternalfight“forour
freedomandyours.”
Inacynicalage,Pitynskiispatriotic,idealistic,andrealistic.Wheremoral
relativismiscommon,Pitynskiisdidacticandcertain.Inanartworldfondof
abstractsculpture,Pitynskiisdevotedtoclassicalbeauty,representation,
romanticismandreality—allmakinghisworkarrestingandmoving.
DonaldMartinReynoldshasspenthiscareerdescribingandappreciating
monuments.Theyare,heinsists,areflectionofasociety’svalues,apreservationof
thepast,anescapefromdeath,andaninspirationtotheliving.InPitynski’swork,
hesees“thedeepertruthsofnobility,patriotism,andloyalty.”Inthis,Reynoldsis
describinghisowncredo.
Peter Gibbon is a Senior Research Scholar at the Boston University School of Education
and the author of A Call to Heroism: Renewing America's Vision of Greatness (Atlantic
Monthly Press, 2002). He has directed four Teaching American History programs and is
currently the director of an NEH Seminar, “Philosophers of Education: Major Thinkers
from the Enlightenment to the Present.”
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