April 27, 1926, Tuesday

Cracow. Bruno Schulz passes the exam in drawing as a teaching subject in general middle schools and teachers’ seminaries.

In order to continue teaching drawing at the Jagiełło school in Drohobych, Schulz must obtain full professional qualifications. One of the conditions is to pass the subject exam. 

Schulz takes an exam at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow. In the first part, he has to write an essay on “the relation of art and nature”. The second part consists of five stages, which are: drawing a model (“Nude” theme, assessed by Wojciech Weiss); painting an object from nature (“Still Life (Oil)” theme, assessed by Ignacy Pieńkowski); an essay on modelling (topic “Man’s head in a general slurry”, assessed by Konstanty Laszczka); composition (topic “Designing a vase to be made in bronze, any height in 1:5 or 1:2 scale”); essay on projections and perspective (three topics). The final part of the exam is the oral exam.

The overall grade he gets is very good. He obtains the highest grade from the first part, as well as from Weiss, Pieńkowski and the first two parts of the oral exam (review of art and anatomy). He receives a good grade from Leszczyński and in didactics, and a satisfactory grade in composition1. 

In addition to the above-mentioned, the examination committee includes: the chairman of the examination board, Teodor Axentowicz, and the examiner, Henryk Kunzek. The rector of the Academy of Fine Arts, Adolf Szyszko-Bohusz, also signs the certificate.

The date of the exam was originally scheduled for April 192.

See also: January 30, 1926*, March 12, 1926*. (kw) (transl. mw) 

  • 1
    See e.g., a copy of the state examination certificate of August 9, 1927, CPAHU-L, the Board of the Lviv School District, Lviv, 1921-1939, F 179, O 7, Volume XIII, file 29379, sheet 6; Copy of the state examination certificate from January 7, 1929, CPAHU-L, Board of the Lviv School District, Lviv, 1921-1939, F 179, O 7, Volume XIII, file 29379, sheet 20. The original certificate is in the Archives of the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. It was found by Anna Kaszuba-Dębska. See: Anna Kaszuba-Dębska, Bruno. Epoka genialna, Kraków 2020, pp. 357–359.
  • 2
    Letter from Bruno Schulz to the School District Board dated 12 March 1926, [in:] Bruno Schulz, Dzieła zebrane, volume 5: Księga listów, zebrał i przygotował do druku Jerzy Ficowski, uzupełnił Stanisław Danecki, Gdańsk 2016, p. 228.