Polish Art Research Articles

"Pingpongista": Józefa Hena czytanie Jedwabnego

The paper is about a Józef Hen’s novel The Ping-Pong Player (2008). The author analyzes it as a writer’s response to the war tragedy in Jedwabne (1941). He considers the problem in the various contexts: of history, of Hen’s work, of a contemporary Polish art.

Bolesław Leśmian in Italy: Milo De Angelis and his heavenly journey

The artistic creativity of Bolesław Leśmian – remarkably colourful, musical, and philosophically versatile – has endeared him to readers worldwide over the course of a century. In spite of many socio-political barriers, Leśmian’s poetry become a point of reference, as was the case in Italy in the 1970s. At this time a fi rst encounter with the works of the Polish artist became a crucial moment for a young poet – Milo De Angelis. After a stay in Warsaw, De Angelis founded a literary magazine called “Niebo”, number 11 of which was entirely dedicated to Leśmian, whose visions profoundly infl uenced the poetics of the Italian author, even in later years.

Training for Art and Femininity: Analysis of Life Stories of Contemporary Polish Artists

The article is an analysis of life stories of female visual artists connected with the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow (Poland). It explores the specificity of women’s experiences and constitutes an attempt to examine the role models and gender hierarchies which dominate the artworld. The article emphasises two analytical categories – uncertainty and struggle – to demonstrate how they organise the life stories of female artists, and tries to explain how such life stories can lead to re-evaluation of the perception of art as a male profession and contribute to a greater appreciation of women’s activity in the artworld.

Tezauronimiczny „skarbczyk” sztucznej biżuterii. Kilka uwag o nazwach własnych „drugorzędnych klejnotów”

Imitation jewellery, also known as “secondary gems”, has been people’s companion from antiquity. Its representative objects, however, have rarely been assigned their individualised proper names – thesauronyms. As an answer to the appeal of Polish art historians and museologists: Ewa Letkiewicz, Katarzyna Kluczwajd, Monika Paś and Dorota Zahel, this study is an attempt at a linguistic and culturological presentation of thesauronyms that signify: a pair of earrings, collar, ring, fur fastener clip, necklaces, brooches, duette brooches, jewellery series, collections, lines, sets, limited edition. The attention is also drawn to the specificity of thesauronyms distinguishing similar jewellery items and thesauronyms denoting many various and completely different referents. Moreover, motivation analysis, semantic and motivation analysis, and structural analysis of the names of imitation jewellery names has been conducted. The findings allowed for redefining, verifying, supplementing and extending the term thesauronym.

O wpływie spuścizny Świętej Teresy z Ávili na piśmiennictwo i kulturę polskiego baroku

The subject of this article is to discuss the penetration of influences of Spanish mysticism, in particular, the works of Saint Teresa of Ávila, on the literature and culture of the Polish Baroque. The intercultural influence of Spanish mysticism on Polish artists is reflected in the translations of the writings of Saint Teresa of Ávila. The considerations focus on the influence of the mysticism of Saint Teresa on mystical autobiographies and anonymous poetry of Carmelite nuns from Krakow from the 17th and 18th centuries. The reflection also covers the centres of the veneration of the saint in Poland, in services and prayer books, and her popularisation through art. Mystical influences are also visible in the poetry of the 17th and 18th centuries, including poetry by Kasper Twardowski, Sebastian Grabowiecki, Stanisław Grochowski, Mikołaj Mieleszko, Zbigniew Morsztyn, Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski, Elżbieta Drużbacka, and Konstancja Benisławska. The Polish-Spanish ties situate the research issues undertaken in a comparative context, without which the studies on post-Tridentine spirituality would not have produced real achievements.

Wczesny okres twórczości Hanny Żuławskiej. Warszawa–Paryż–Gdynia

Hanna Żuławska (1908–1988) was one of the most prominent artists associated with the Tri -City, and dealing with many fields of art: easel and polychrome painting, architectural mosaic, sgraffito, ceramics and small architecture. Her husband was a painter known on the coast: Jacek Żuławski. She is known primarily for her mature work in the 1950s and 60s; it was then that she showed true individuality. From post - -war times, Żuławska was also teacher and professor at the State Higher School of Fine Arts in Gdańsk and the manager of the Kadyny Ceramics Works. Little, if anything, is known of Hanna Żuławska’s work in the interwar period.
 In 1930–1934, Żuławska studied at the Warsaw School of Fine Arts, among others in the studios of Professors Felicjan Szczęsny Kowarski, Leonard Pękalski and Tadeusz Pruszkowski. It seems that Kowarski’s work in the fields of painting and monumental mosaics had a great influence on Żuławska›s later artistic activity. In the 1930s, Żuławska took part in exhibitions at IPS (Art Propaganda Institute).
 At that time, the artist experienced a period of fascination with the works of the members of the Paris Committee and Pierre Bonnard and Paul Cèzanne, which resulted in the pair of the artists, Hanna and Jacek, leaving for Paris on a scholarship in 1935. In Paris, the artist studied in the painting studio of Józef Pankiewicz, painted still lifes, city views and quite standard landscapes; she also visited museums and led a lively social life. In May 1938, the works of Hanna and five other Polish painters were presented at the prestigious Bernheim Jeune gallery in Paris. The exhibition was well received by critics in Poland.
 Hanna and her husband returned to Poland and settled in Gdynia in the autumn of 1938, where Żuławska established contacts with the artistic community of the city. In 1938, the artists joined the Gdynia branch of the Trade Union of Polish Artists and Designers, and actively participated in its exhibitions until the outbreak of World War II. In recognition of their contribution to the development of art in Gdynia, the Żuławskis also received state orders for a monumental painting decoration of the barracks’ common room at Redłowo, for the creation of paintings for the Chapel of the Hospital of the Sisters of Mercy at Kaszubski Square, and for the polychrome entitled ‘Apotheosis of Gdynia’ in the building of the Government Commissariat (designs not preserved).
 During the Nazi occupation, the Żuławskis were in Warsaw; in November 1944, the artist came to Łańcut near Lublin, where she stayed at an artistic house. In the autumn of 1945, Hanna and Jacek Żuławski together with other residents of the manor house, e.g.: Juliusz Studnicki, Krystyna Łada -Studnicka, Janusz Strzałecki, Józefa and Marian Wnuk, established the State Institute of Fine Arts in Sopot, transformed into the State Higher School of Fine Arts in Gdańsk.

„Raumkunst” autorstwa Teodora Axentowicza

Raumkunst by Teodor Axentowicz
 Three exhibition arrangements analysed in the article – the halls of Polish artists on the exhibitions in St. Louis (1904), London (1906) and XI International Biennial of Art in Venice (1914) – allow us to consider Teodor Axentowicz as a precursor of the new form of organisation of the exhibition space within the Polish culture. This form was a pattern for the subsequent architects of exhibitions belonging to the Society of Polish Artists “Art”. Projects of Axentowicz perfectly fitted to the modern style of exhibition interior arrangement, which was promoted by the Viennese environment of “Secession” at the turn of the 20th century.

„Pozycja prawie idealna”. Związek Polskich Artystów Plastyków wobec przemian politycznych, kryzysu gospodarczego i napięć środowiskowych w latach 1980–1981

This paper examines the participation of the Polish Artists' Union in the complex transformation of communist Poland in 1980–1981 . It is one of the most mythologized phenomena in Polish art history. The main approach to this period assumes that before the of “Solidarity” movement uprising, the Polish Artists' Union was totally dependent on the communist authorities. Then, after August 1980, the Union was to become idealistic, anti-communist organization. The following paper recognizes this kind of historiographical narrative as an example of the 'totalitarian model'. It is a model based on a simple, binary vision of the communist system as a field of permanent struggle between “innocent” society and “oppressive”, omnipotent authorities. The analysis presented here uses the perspective of social history (Sheila Fitzpatrick et al.). From this perspective, communism is viewed as a complex tangle of active, causative social actors (groups and individuals), who could be politically engaged, but may not be. One of those actors was the Polish Artists' Union. Based on various kinds of sources, I show how the Union tried to take the optimal political position after August 1980. To examine this issue I use two types of political mentality, which dominated in those days in the Party, in “Solidarity”, and also in the Union. One is termed “fundamental”, and treats politics in terms of morality, dignity, and so on. The other is called “pragmatic”, and is focused on institutional games, while also allowing compromises or concessions. To track the dynamics of how the Union functioned from August 1980 until martial law was declared (in December 1981), I introduce a division into three phases of the Solidarity revolution: September-December 1980, January-July 1981, and September-December 1981. An analysis of the Union's documents, art magazines, and Party's documents (both official and internal), shows that after the first phase, the Polish Artists' Union was ready to join the new configuration of power, based on Solidarity and the Polish United Workers' Party agreement. According to David Ost's theory, I define this project as a “neo-corporatist” model of the state socialism in the art system.
 

Op reis met “Elckerlijc” en Stefan Mrożewski

This article deals with modern illustrations accompanying medieval text, with special attention to one publication – the modern edition of Middle Dutch Elckerlijc and the woodcuts made by Stefan Mrożewski. The article introduces the circumstances in which the book was published and in which the Polish artist prepared his prints. The main analysis discusses the choices made by Mrożewski and the many different ways in which he refers to the historic past in his work. In order to show a broader framework of the subject, the article also briefly sketches the Polish literary reception of the medieval morality play.

Karol Szymanowski’s Vision of New Polish Music

Abstract In 19th-century Poland — under Russian, Prussian and Austrian rule at the time – the main goal of music was to promote revival and to stimulate patriotic feelings. Patriotic Polishness drawing on the country’s glorious past was to be the essence of music; modernity of the composer’s language was of secondary importance. Karol Szymanowski unceremoniously criticised this patriotic music as turned towards the provincial Polish tradition. According to Szymanowski, the criterion of Polish and at the same time “civilised musical art” was met only by Chopin. With the regaining of independence Polish art should free itself from patriotic didacticism and pay attention to aesthetic qualities, which was to eliminate the discrepancy between Polishness and Europeanness, between what was national and what was international, universal and European. The figure of Karol Szymanowski links our musical present, symbolised by the Warsaw Autumn International Festival of Contemporary Music, with the first years of independent Poland, for Warsaw Autumn realized Karol Szymanowski’s vision of modern Polish music. In this vision Polish music was a rightful element of European culture.

New York, the Mecca of the Art World. Initial Study on Polish Migrant Artists who Left for the United States, 1986–1995

The paper strives to characterize the circle of Polish visual artists who left for the United States in the late 20th century and settled in New York City, where they continued their careers. For the purposes of the paper, the subject matter has been focused on an excerpt from an ample research problem i.e. the analysis of the history of the Polish American Artists Society (PAAS,) operating in New York from 1986 through 1995. Their activities form the basis for the analysis and constitute a database to construct a more profound picture of the organization. Therefore, the years in which PAAS operated shall also constitute the paper’s framework. To foster simplicity, the term ‘artist’ and ‘artists’ shall be used to refer to visual artists born in Poland who came to New York City mainly in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, permanently resided in the United States, and worked as visual artists, regardless of the technique they adopted, be it painters, sculptors, photographers, graphic artists, illustrators, performers, artistic fabric weavers, or video artists. The paper uses their micro-stories to illustrate the phenomenon behind the prolific community of Polish artists in New York City from 1986 through 1995. It is based on research on PAAS, which has become the basis for a monographic book about the Society.

Polish artists in Kazakhstan: with love to the steppe

The article analyzes the cultural and creative heritage of artists of Polish descent who found themselves in Kazakhstan for various reasons in the period from the middle of the 19th to the end of the 20th centuries. In addition to their unconditional artistic value, the results of their creative efforts are of great scientific importance for modern Kazakhstan as unique ethnographic sources and documentary evidence of the daily graft and life of the Kazakh steppe. Domestic historical science already has a certain reserve dedicated to various sociopolitical, cultural and economic aspects of Kazakh-Polish relations, where the deportation of Poles and the formation of Kazakhstan’s Polonia are of particular importance. However, the creative heritage of Polish artists in Kazakhstan fell into the field of vision of scientists extremely occasionally. While its cultural and art historical context is able to shed light on many facets of the history, ethnography and culture of the Kazakh people. During the research, retrospective, comparative-historical and formal-stylistic campaigns were used. The result of the research is a retrospective analysis of the works of some of the most prominent Polish artists, due to various factors, for whom the Great Steppe has become not only a home, but also a source of inspiration and strength.

Iconography of intertwined branches in M. Buraček’s landscapes during 1917–1924: (regarding problems of adaptation of Young Polish Japonisme in the works of Ukrainian students of the Krakow Academy of Arts)

The purpose of the article is to analyze M. Buraček’s winter landscapes from the collection of the Zaporizhzhia Art Museum: “Winter” (1917), “Apple Trees in Winter. Dziunkiv”(1922), “Branches in the Hoarfrost”(1924) and to substantiate the reflections associated with the Young Polish Japonisme mastered by the Ukrainian artist while studying at the Krakow Academy of Arts. Methodology. In order to solve the problem set in the publication, the following methods were used: comparative – in connection with clarifying the analogies between the landscapes of M. Buraček of 1917–1924 and the plots of Polish artists of the 1900s; hermeneutic - to understand the connection between the traditions of ukiyo-e Japanese woodblock prints and particularities of the Polish improvisations of early XX century. The scientific novelty of the publication consists in the fact that the works of M. Buraček proposed for consideration are analyzed for the first time in the context of the problem of assimilation of Young Polish Japonisme among Ukrainian students of the Krakow Academy of Arts. Conclusions. It was found that the landscape plots of kachō-ga, inspired by the Polish artistic background, had been adapted in the works of M. Buraček during the period: 1917–1924. The then strivings of the below Krakiw pioneers from Young Poland’s artistic environment contributed to the renewal of M. Buraček’s thematic repertoire: W. Weiss, J. Voinarski, K. Gomolaks, T. Richter, F. Ruszczyc, T. F. Simon, J. Stanislawski, W. Tadeusz, J. Tchaikovsky. The study of the landscape repertoire of M. Buraček during 1917–1924, which had been formed during his studies at the Krakow Academy of Arts, results in confirming the Krakiw Japonisme reflections traced in his works attributable to the first quarter of XX century.

Two Paradigms – Two Art Worlds: On Constructing the Difference as a Strategy for Validating the Concept of the Artist and Art

The subject of the article is two art worlds in the field of visual arts which currently exist side by side in Poland. These worlds operate as part of two different paradigms of art, which is why two different definitions of the art and artist apply to them, and, in consequence, also different models of operation. What is important in the case of both communities is the process of constructing the difference and separating out their own communities of meanings, being a strategy to lend credence to their own concept of the art and artist, as well as their position in the art world. The aim of the article is to describe the process of constructing internal boundaries in the Polish art world and its division into two separate worlds, what means have been used in that process, as well as what are the consequences of belonging to the two separate art worlds for their participants.

Tadeusz Kuntze, detto “Taddeo Polacco”, tra Roma, i Colli Albani e il Lazio

The artistic activity of Tadeusz Kuntze, nicknamed ‘Taddeo Polacco’ (Zielona Góra 1727 – Rome1793) has not as yet been properly evaluated, despite him having been one of the most prolific painters active in Rome from the mid-1760s to the 1780s. An attempt at placing Kuntze’s creative accomplishments in a broader context of artistic interconnections and influences has been made. Among the latter, it is Kuntze’s bonds with the Spanish colony in Rome that are of special importance, particularly the impact of his art on the formation of young Francisco Goya. A separate, however not less important issue is the influence of the Polish artist on the Madrazo family of painters whose members played a key role in 19th-century Spanish art.

What Was Protected by the State in Vilnius and Nowogródek Voivodeships Between 1928 and 1939? Evaluation and Listing of Cultural Monuments

This article focuses on the process of monument listing, done by conservators of Vilnius in interwar Poland and which provided the monuments state protection. Between 1931 and 1939, monument conservators made 202 decisions confirming monumental value to various objects of architecture, urbanistics, archeology and nature. In the text the listing and evaluation process is described by analyzing the register of monuments and the decisions it was based on. The documents from the archive of the Art Department of Vilnius voivodeship are used in the article. The analysis of the register of monuments is based on statistical methods. Interpretation and evaluation are based on analytical and comparative methods. The research leads to findings that monument listing was dominated by architecture. Objects of nature were announced monuments based on their cultural value. Officially the status of a monument was given on the grounds of its aesthetics, age or documental value. However, the inner motive was Polishness. Thus, the most frequent monuments were baroque Catholic churches. The patriotic context is also seen in nature protection. The process of monument listing was led by only one expert – a conservator of monuments. The monument status and state protection depended on their interests, expertise and power. The conservator cooperated only with a small group of Polish authority and intelligentsia, leaving the majority of society out of this heritage process. The decision confirming monumental value was a way to control and have an impact directly on the monument’s existence, indirectly – on the discourse of memory. The monument listing reveals values and identities of a Polish art historian working for the state. Consequently, these values and identities were projected for the whole society as universal. This type of discourse on heritage, conception and practice was common in Western countries in the 20th c.

Living Color: Henryk Stażewski’s Interior Models

The interior models made by Polish artist Henryk Stażewski circa 1976 are an entryway to exploring the geopolitics of vision in the 1960s and 1970s. Locating the models’ function at the intersection of art, psychiatry, and color theory reveals analogies between their formal qualities and a selection of theories that emphasised the role of subjective, embodied perception. Through studying how the artist’s understanding of both individual and social functions of vision evolved during the postwar period, I challenge dominant interpretations of Stażewski’s late work as a mere continuation of his earlier Constructivist interests, complicating our understanding of the historical avant-garde’s legacy.

From the Editors

From the Editors

The role of patronage in popularizing the work of Stanislav Zhukovsky

The article is devoted to the study of the peculiarities of patronage as a socio-cultural phenomenon, the forms of its manifestation in Russia at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries, as well as the influence on the formation of the creative fate of a particular person - the Polish artist Stanislav Yulianovich Zhukovsky (1873-1944), who, by the will of historical destinies, in the period under review lived on the territory of the Russian Empire in Moscow. The role of individual patrons of art in supporting the artist through the acquisition of his paintings is analyzed. The fate of individual works of the artist, which have survived to this day thanks to the private collections of Russian patrons of art, has been investigated.

Creative Practice through Teleconferencing in the Era of COVID-19

Creative Practice through Teleconferencing in the Era of COVID-19