Tadeusz Gronowski

Tadeusz Gronowski was a Polish graphic artist, architect, interior designer and book illustrator. He is regarded as one of the inventors of modern Polish posters. Gronowski’s most famous work was probably the original design for the Polish Airlines LOT in 1929. Later he was also involved in the design of the decoration of the Galeries Lafayette in Paris as well as in the design of various postage stamps in Poland.

Gronowski studied architecture at the Warsaw Technical University from 1915-25 and then went to Paris to continue his studies at the École des Beaux Arts for two years. Early on he worked as a graphic artist for art magazines and additionally as a commercial artist. In 1923 he was a co-founder of the studio for commercial art “Plakat” and in 1933 of the Association of Commercial Artists. After World War II, he was the chairman of the Association of Polish Artists for a long time and was appointed professor at the Academy in Warszawa. At this time, he turned to painting.

Gronowski designed the first Polish Olympic poster for the 1920 Olympic Games, advertising a sports week to promote the Polish début at the Olympics in Antwerp. This poster – originally a color lithograph measuring 110 x 80 cm – achieved a wide impact thanks to a postcard edition as a newspaper supplement. Poland, however, cancelled its participation at short notice because of the war against Russia. Whether this poster was Gronowski’s entry for the 1932 art competitions is unknown.