Statue of Frédéric Chopin in Royal Baths Park in Warsaw

The statue of Frédéric Chopin in Royal Baths Park in Warsaw went through a lot of turbulences. Firstly, Wacław Szymanowski won the contest for the project of the statue, representing Art Noeveau style. The finished product was supposed to be revealed on compositor's 100th birthday in 1910. The surroundings and the plinth were designed by an architect Oskar Sosnowski, whose project was also one of the villas located in Milanówek called Villa Sulima. Unfortunately the figure could not be constructed. Later on, a bronze cast of the monument was supposed to be created in France, thanks to social contributions. In the meantime World War I broke out and the company responsible for making the cast went bankrupt, leaving half of the cast already made in Paris. In 1923 other French company took over the initiative and supervised by Szymanowski made the cast. As a result, the monument was ready in 1926 when the Art Noeveau style was not as popular as it used to be unfortunately. It was first supposed to stand in Ujazdowski Park, then in Botanical Garden to finally be placed in Royal Baths Park. It was unveiled on 14 November 1926 for the 25th anniversary of Philharmonic in Warsaw. During World War II in 1940 the statue was blown up and its remains melt down to supply German arms industry. Thanks to the sculptor's sons, who gave the model of the statue to the National Museum in 1949, the monument could be recreated. After a failed contest for the second statue and miscarried project of creating a new district dedicated to Chopin, the monument in its original design once again was placed back in Royal Baths Park in 1958. Leon Machowski - whose student was an author of Chopin's bust in Milanówek Janusz Tomasiński - took part in the process of recreating the statue.