Oscars 2017: The Croatian Connection

The winners of this year’s Oscar awards will be taking home a statuette with a special connection to Croatia for the second year in a row.

The usual glitz and glamour of the Oscars will take place on the 26th of February 2017, following the nominee announcement from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences made on Tuesday the 24th of January.

For the second year in a row, the iconic statuette taken home by the winners will be manufactured by the Polich Tallix Fine Art Foundry in New York, owned by the son of Croatian immigrants to the United States. Dick Polich (83), who has worked with over 500 artists throughout the years, draws his roots from the small, unassuming village of Zlobin, close to Bakra on the coast and situated between Gorski Kotar and Primorje. He grew up among a community of Croatian immigrants in a western suburb of Chicago after his parents left Croatia for the United States in the early 1920’s. He attended Yale University on a football scholarship and earned a degree in economics before founding the highly reputable Fine Art Foundry.

Polich Tallix carries out more than two hundred works of art at any one time, including US national monuments.

While the statuettes for the Oscars were made by a Chicago trophy company for more than thirty years, Polich Tallix Fine Art Foundry was selected to take over last year.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the nominations for the 2017 Academy Awards on Tuesday, 24 January 2017.

This year’s winners, when they are revealed at the Oscars on 26 February, will be taking home the famous Oscar statuette, which for the second year in a row have a Croatian connection.

Polich Tallix Fine Art Foundry in New York, which is owned by the son of Croatian immigrants, have once again manufactured the famous Oscar statuette for the Academy Awards.

(photo: polich tallix)

For over 30 years the Oscar statuettes were made by a Chicago trophy firm, but last year the Academy selected Polich Tallix Fine Art Foundry to take over the duties.

Polich Tallix was founded by Dick Polich. Polich (83), which was originally Polić, descended from the small village of Zlobin, which is situated between Primorje and Gorski Kotar and is just 13 km from Bakra on the northern Adriatic coast.

Dick Polich (photo: pollich tallix)

Polich’s parents came to America at the beginning of the 1920s and he grew up in a western Chicago suburb among the Croatian immigrant community.

He has said in interviews that he does not know too much about Croatia but does remember the stories and legends he was told as a kid.

He last visited Croatia over 20 years ago and says that he has not spoken Croatian since his mother died 15 years ago.

Bakar – near where Polich’s are from

Polich Tallix was among the first in the United States to offer technological expertise and industrial capabilities in metalworking, which had previously been only capable in Europe.

Polich, who went to Yale University on a football scholarship and graduated with an economics degree before founding his own foundry, has made thousands of sculptures in his career, and worked with more than five hundred artists.

At the foundry at any one time, work is being carried out on over two hundred different works of art, from architectural elements, to US national monuments, to small sculptures and other art pieces.

(photo: polich tallix)

It takes Polich Tallix around 3 months to complete 50 Oscar statuettes required for the big night.

Polich Tallix carries out more than two hundred works of art at any one time, including US national monuments.

While the statuettes for the Oscars were made by a Chicago trophy company for more than thirty years, Polich Tallix Fine Art Foundry was selected to take over last year.