Urszula Broll

A painter, graphic artist. She was a pioneering Polish artist whose creative journey evolved from postwar modernist experimentation to a deeply personal and meditative exploration of Buddhist philosophy, culminating in her iconic mandala-inspired watercolours.

She studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, Katowice branch, graduating in 1955. Broll co-founded the St-53 Group, one of the first avant-garde collectives in post-war Poland, which experimented with form, colour, and abstraction. In the 1960s, she became interested in Eastern culture and philosophy, which was reflected in her art.

Together with her husband, Andrzej Urbanowicz, she ran a legendary studio on Ligonia Street in Katowice, a meeting place for artists and intellectuals seeking spiritual and creative expression. The studio's atmosphere nurtured a groundbreaking blend of visual experimentation and spiritual inquiry, giving rise to the Oneiron group (1967–1971),  a circle of artists and thinkers exploring the nature of dreams, alchemy, symbols, and mystical experience. From the 1970s onward, she developed her unique style based on metaphysical painting and mandalas, drawing from Zen Buddhism traditions. She moved to Przesieka in the Karkonosze Mountains, where she created an important artistic centre. Her works were exhibited in numerous exhibitions in Poland and abroad, making her an icon of independent 20th-century art.

Selected Solo Exhibitions:

• 1959 – Krzywe Koło Gallery, Warsaw
• 1961 – Svea-Galleriet, Stockholm, Sweden 
• 1963 – BWA Katowice (“Alikwoty” – oil paintings)
• 1963 – Krzysztofory Gallery, Kraków
• 1970 – Contemporary Gallery KMPiK, Warsaw
• 1970 – BWA Katowice (“Paintings and Drawings from 1967–1970”)
• 1971 – Pegaz Gallery, Zakopane
• 1973 – “Propozycje” Gallery, Opole
• 1973 – “Painting” Gallery, Katowice
• 1979 – Library Gallery, Randolph, New Jersey, USA
• 1984 – Contemporary Art Gallery KMPiK, Jelenia Góra (“Works from 1968–1984”)
• 1987 – BWA Kłodzko (“Watercolours and Drawings”)
• 1994 – Upper Silesian Cultural Centre, Katowice (“Festival of Chamber Music”)
• 1997 – BWA Jelenia Góra (“Mandalas and Ink Drawings, 1968–1996”)
• 1997 – Na Żywo Gallery, Polish Radio Katowice
• 2004 – “Painting from the 1950s and 60s,” Czas Gallery, Będzin; Nautilus Gallery, Kraków
• 2005 – “Retrospective Exhibition” (Jelenia Góra, Katowice, Legnica, Wałbrzych – part of the Lower Silesian Art Festival)
• 2006 – “Works from 1952–1969,” Art NEW Media Gallery, Warsaw
• 2013 – “Geometric Watercolours (1963–2013),” Gallery 111, Szczecin
• 2015–2016 – “Urszula Broll – Painting,” BWA Jelenia Góra
• 2019 – Sudeten Cultural and Art Centre, Szklarska Poręba
• 2020 – “Atman Means Breath,” Xawery Dunikowski Museum of Sculpture (Królikarnia), Warsaw

Selected Group Exhibitions:

• 1953 – First unofficial St-53 Group exhibition, Brada
• 1954 – Second unofficial St-53 Group exhibition, Katowice
• 1956 – First official St-53 Group exhibition, Stalinogród
• 1956 – “St-53 Group,” Palace of Art, Kraków
• 1956 – “St-53 Group,” Krzywe Koło Gallery, Warsaw
• 1957 – “St-53, R-55, Group 55,” Poznań and Szczecin
• 1957 – “St-53,” CBWA – ZPAP, Katowice
• 1957 – “2nd Modern Art Exhibition,” Zachęta, Warsaw
• 1959 – “3rd Modern Art Exhibition,” Zachęta, Warsaw
• 1962 – “Polish Art for the 15th Anniversary of the People's Republic of Poland,” National Museum, Warsaw
• 1963 – “Confrontations 1963,” Krzywe Koło Gallery, Warsaw
• 1963 – “1st International Koszalin Outdoor Studio,” Osieki
• 1963 – “1st Contemporary Art Parade,” EL Gallery, Elbląg
• 1969 – “Encounters,” Katowice Gallery
• 1970 – “Black Pages,” Contemporary Gallery KMPiK, Warsaw
• 1971 – “Dreams, Phantasmagorias, Fantasies,” Pryzmat Gallery, Kraków
• 1971 – “New Phenomena in Polish Art 1960–1970,” BWA Zielona Góra
• 1972 – “Ars – Aquae,” National Watercolour and Gouache Exhibition, BWA Katowice
• 1974 – “Dreams, Myths, Initiations,” BWA Kłodzko
• 1989 – “Meditation and Art,” Arkady Dominikańskie, Kraków
• 1995 – “Polish Surrealists,” City Art Gallery, Częstochowa
• 1996 – “Joint Exhibition with Nyogen Nowak and Ewa Hadydoń,” Tokyo and Sendai, Japan
• 1996 – “Works of Katowice Artists (1960–1996),” La Ma la Ville de Saint-Etienne, France
• 1998 – “Zen Dust,” Manggha Centre of Japanese Art and Technology, Kraków
• 1999 – “Magnificent Landscape,” Jelenia Góra and Berlin
• 1999 – “Visionaries of the End of the Century,” Lubusz Museum, Zielona Góra
• 2000 – “Magnificent Landscape,” Ratingen, Hoesel, Goerlitz, Alfeld, Harzburg (Germany)
• 2000 – “Around the Great Mountain,” Jelenia Góra
• 2001 – “Around the Great Mountain,” Zabrze, Herrnhut (Germany), Vrchlabi (Czech Republic)
• 2003 – “ST-53: Creators, Attitudes, Traces,” Museum of Katowice History
• 2003 – “Ephemeral Views,” Monschau, Germany
• 2003 – “Katowice Artistic Underground after 1953,” BWA Katowice
• 2006–2007 – “Oneiron. Esoteric Circle of Artists from Katowice,” Ratingen, Jelenia Góra, Ostrava, Katowice
• 2007 – “Mandala,” Bielska BWA Gallery, Bielsko-Biała
• 2015 – “Urszula Broll – Andrzej Urbanowicz: Dangerous Liaisons,” Museum of Katowice History
• 2015 – “Modern Women,” Piekary Gallery, Poznań
• 2015 – “Shadow of Ink. Far Eastern Inspirations in Polish Art,” Museum of Asia and Pacific, Warsaw
• 2016 – “Silesia Art Biennale,” Wrocław
• 2017 – “Art Elevator,” Municipal Gallery, Wrocław
• 2017 – “Now is Here. 40/40,” BWA Jelenia Góra
• 2024 – “Giantesses,” BWA Wrocław