Who is Wojciech Pietranik?
Wojciech Pietranik is one of the most world-famous Polish sculptors, who has also won a lot of awards, has been recognised for his work constantly by the world audience, and is best known for his works on coins and medals. His most famous works are from when he worked at the Royal Australian Mint.
Most of his awards are from when he was working at the Royal Australian Mint from 1989 to 2012. He is one of the very few sculptors who was invited to submit a design for the Sydney Olympics 2000 medal. He is well respected as an artist and has a lot of influence in the sculpting world.
Pietranik’s Early Life
Wojciech Pietranik was born on March 25th, 1950. He was born in Gdańsk, Poland. He completed his education in Poland and also taught himself the art of sculpting through his academics. He had gotten a master's degree in sculpture from the Academy of Fine Arts in Poland. He started his career by doing freelance work while in Poland in 1975. Later, he moved to Darwin, Australia, as a teacher in 1985 and thus settled in the country. After reaching Australia, he began working as a teacher, but later he shifted to Canberra with his family. After a few years of teaching, he began working for the Royal Australian Mint in 1989.
Pietranik's Most Important Works
Since he began working at the Royal Australian Mint, many of his works have also been featured on the reverse of many Australian commemorative coins. Wojciech Pietranik's highest achievement was when he was invited to submit a design for the 2000 Sydney Summer Games, the Olympics Medal.
He was one of the only 18 people invited to such an honourable job. He created a model for the medal using plasticine, and while sending his work off to the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games, he cast his finished design in plaster. He also sent his sketches along as well. His design was based on the observation of Giuseppe Cassioli’s Trifonov design, as per the brief. This design has been used at every Summer Olympics since 1928.
Wojciech Pietranik had replaced the authentic medal, which had the Roman Colosseum, with the Sydney Opera House. However, the committee decided that the Colosseum design should prevail when he made the changes, and the design was then finally revealed formally. After its release, it was criticized by the Greeks for not featuring the Greek Parthenon. The Royal Australian Mint also decided to celebrate his 20 years of design and sculpture work in 2010. An exhibition was held for the same. He was featured as a guest speaker on January 30, 2010, at the Striking Art Lasting Impressions, where the collections of his coins and the designs of the medals that he sculpted were exhibited.
Conclusion
Wojciech Pietranik’s works are unforgettable and are still in the collections of the British Museum and the Royal Coin Cabinet in Stockholm, Sweden. Many of his collections were also featured in many places all over Australia and overseas.
