Bolesław Prus Bench
Recording
Narrated by Zbigniew Strzyżyński, the artist's son
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The Bolesław Prus Bench was created in 2002 on the initiative of Halina Bukowska, president of the Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nałęczowa (Society of Friends of Nałęczów) and head of the Bolesław Prus Museum, with financial support from the Nałęczów City Council and the then mayor, Wojciech Wójcik.
My father prepared three plaster designs showing different poses of Bolesław Prus's figure on the bench. One proposal was chosen, and we then worked together on a full-size model in clay. I handled the initial execution of the whole figure, while my father worked on the entire head — he made the head himself and took care of the details.
After finishing the model and getting the clients' approval, we made the casts and worked on plaster moulds — there were about 30 of them. We then made the plaster cast, which travelled to the foundry in Rzeszów — there the monument was cast in bronze.
At first, the bench stood in front of the Małachowski Palace, where the Bolesław Prus Museum was located at the time. Today the bench also stands in a very attractive spot — by the pond, in front of the Prince Józef Sanatorium.
If you happen to be in this spot, it is also worth visiting the Palm House. There you will find two busts made by my father. The first is a bust of Władysław Tatarkiewicz, a philosopher and aesthetician, who sat for my father on one of the balconies of the agricultural workers' sanatorium. The other sculpture is a bust of Dr. Wacław Szczepiński, a man of great merit for Nałęczów, the resort's chief physician.
These and other sculptures in the Palm House were created during the sculpture symposium „Figures of Nałęczów" in 1978.
The Bolesław Prus Bench was unveiled in the Spa Park on Sunday, 20 October 2002, on the 120th anniversary of the writer's first visit to Nałęczów. The bronze figure shows Prus seated in his characteristic bowler hat, hand resting on a book — as if he had paused his reading for a moment to rest in the shade of the park's avenues.
This is one of two works on this route that Stanisław Strzyżyński made together with his son Zbigniew Strzyżyński, born in Nałęczów in 1955 — the same person who tells the story of his father and his work in the recordings accompanying this walk. Listening to his voice at this sculpture, we therefore hear not only a son's account, but a co-creator's. The other joint work on the route is the Papal Stone.
There are two memorials to Bolesław Prus in the park — a bust and this bench. The writer visited Nałęczów many times, and the spa town left its mark on his work.
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