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Francuskie światło, litewska ziemia. O malarstwie Joanny Wierusz-Kowalskiej-Turowskiej
Full text linkThe paper is an attempt to undertake a new approach towards the paintings of Joanna Wierusz- -Kowalska, born in 1930 in Vilnius, who lived in France until her death in 2005. Her creative output—despite earlier attempts to characterize it—remains mostly unknown in Poland. The author is trying to show the way in which the experiences she gained at home, full of respect towards all kinds of art, especially fine arts, music and literature, connected with the unsullied nature and wildlife in the Vilnius region surrounding her in her youth, influenced her visions. Through the years of her work in a Parisian studio, Wierusz-Kowalska, just as many other painters creating in the capital of France in the 20th century, though originating from the Eastern Borderlands has proved, how a plastic creation may contain cultural codes originating from two diverse experiences and traditions.The paper is an attempt to undertake a new approach towards the paintings of Joanna Wierusz- -Kowalska, born in 1930 in Vilnius, who lived in France until her death in 2005. Her creative output—despite earlier attempts to characterize it—remains mostly unknown in Poland. The author is trying to show the way in which the experiences she gained at home, full of respect towards all kinds of art, especially fine arts, music and literature, connected with the unsullied nature and wildlife in the Vilnius region surrounding her in her youth, influenced her visions. Through the years of her work in a Parisian studio, Wierusz-Kowalska, just as many other painters creating in the capital of France in the 20th century, though originating from the Eastern Borderlands has proved, how a plastic creation may contain cultural codes originating from two diverse experiences and traditions
Ślad. Polscy artyści i polskie wystawy w Bagdadzie w 1943 roku
No full textThe article sketches a panorama of the exhibition initiatives and presentations of the artwork of Polish artists-soldiers in Baghdad in 1943, which were organized by Jozef Jarema and Jozef Czapski within the framework of the Independent Carpathian Rifle Brigade stationing in Egypt. The text also presents the achievements of the authors who, with General Wladysław Anders, escaped from Soviet captivity to Iran in 1942 – as soldiers of the Polish Army in the East (later the 2nd Corps). In particular, the exhibition initiatives and social activism of Jozef Jarema, reconstructed on the basis of archival sources (which the author of this text reached during his research in Rome in 2010–2012) and press publications in the years 1940–1950 (especially in the Arabic, English, French and Polish press – published in the Near and Middle East, and particularly in Egypt), show the creator of Krakow’s pre-war “Cricot 1” theater not only as an active painter, but above all as a leading community worker and an activist in the area of promoting Polish culture, who recognized the need to present Polish art even in the most culturally alien environments and difficult conditions of venues in the Near and Middle East and Africa
The Twilight of Polish Art Galleries in 20th-century London
No full textThe article foreshadows a bigger publication, now in preparation, devoted to history of exhibitions organized by Polish art galleries in London after World War II. So far, the knowledge of the range of importance of Polish exhibiting institutions and their role in promoting both artists and the newest trends in European art in the second half of the 20th century is only fragmentary. The author of the article presents a history of three Polish galleries: Drian Gallery, Centaur Gallery and Grabowski Gallery and an outline of their activities. Among these three, the one that functioned longest, as it was 43 years (from 1957 to 2000), is Drian Gallery, owned by Halima Nałęcz. One year before, in 1999, the official closing of Centaur Gallery took place, the place which was managed by Dinah and Jan Wieliczko. The gallery started its activities in London in 1960, working incessantly for almost 40 years. The shortest life, 16 years, had Grabowski Gallery, created in 1959 by Mateusz Bronisław Grabowski, a pharmacist by education, and closed in 1975. Each of these galleries had its own individual profile, its own key for selecting artist for exhibition and promotion, and its own ways to assure their functioning on the difficult London art market. Apart from the activities of these institutions, an important role in the history of Polish presence on the London cultural scene was played by organizations belonging to a different category i.e. galleries-studios. These were the following: Feliks Topolski Memoir of Century, open to visitors once every three months and a gallery of works by Marian Bohusz-Szyszko, on a permanent exhibition in the buildings of St. Christopher's Hospice in London-Sydenham. Apart from that, Polish Social and Cultural Association in London (POSK) is a host to a collection of works by Polish artists, contemporary and former members of the Association of Polish Artists in Great Britain. However, this is just an exhibition, not a gallery, which partly illustrates the output of Polish painters – mostly graduates of the School of Easel Painting at the Polish University Abroad. Being brought to attention many times, e.g. at the I Congress for Polish Culture on Emigration in 1970, the appeal to attempt a through historical analysis and an evaluation of the achievements of Polish galleries in their exhibiting and promotional work in the second half of the 20th century in London is a vital task. Together with establishing its importance in the context of Polish history of art and Polish cultural heritage both in Poland and on emigration this task seems very urgent, if it is not a belated one. It may seem late in the light of `passing away' of patrons, art lovers, gallery owners and artists of the pre-war generation themselves, which happens more and more often. The end of the 20th century provides another incentive to this work establishing time borders both in the context of Polish history of art and in the history of a remarkable phenomenon of `Polish' London in the second half of the 20th century
Witold Urbanowicz’s Two Popes in Paris
No full textArtykuł jest przyczynkiem w procesie „odkrywania na nowo” twórczości Witolda Urbanowicza – polskiego artysty (malarza, rzeźbiarza, grafika) w Paryżu. Twórczość 75-letniego pallotyna wpisuje się w losy polskich artystów tworzących poza Polską, których dzieła pozostają nadal „w poczekalni sztuki”, oczekując na właściwe ich rozpoznanie i wprowadzenie do dziejów polskiej historii sztuki XX i XXI wieku. Tematem analizy jest wielkoformatowe przedstawienie wykonane po 2014 roku w technice fresku, znajdujące się w refektarzu pallotyńskiego domu w Paryżu. Przedstawia dwóch Papieży: Jana Pawła II i Jana XXIII kierujących się ku Wieczernikowi. Głównym powodem powstania tego dzieła w budynku ojców pallotynów w Paryżu był fakt, iż zarówno Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli (przyszły Papież Jan XXIII) – jako nuncjusz apostolski w Paryżu od 1944 roku (mianowany przez papieża Pius XII) w początku lat 50. XX wieku – jak i kardynał Karol Wojtyła w 1978 roku byli gośćmi w paryskim domu ojców pallotynów, gdzie wraz z zakonnikami spożywali posiłki w refektarzu, który zdobi obecnie opisywana kompozycja autorstwa Urbanowicza. Scena ta nie tylko ilustruje fakt historyczny ważny dla paryskich pallotynów, lecz także niesie ze sobą szereg możliwości interpretacyjnych, które mogą być powodem dla niejednej rozprawy z zakresu historii kościoła.This article is just a marginal part in discovering Witold Urbanowicz’s works. Discovering it once again, but from a different perspective. Urbanowicz was a Polish artist – painter, sculptor and graphic designer living in Paris. The works of the 75-year old Pallottine are a part of a large contribution of Polish artists creating abroad in the XXth and XXIst century which, over the years, have been vastly underappreciated. This analysis is focused on a large-scale representation (created in 2014 with a fresco technique) of two Popes – Pope John Paul II and John XXIII, heading towards the Upper Room. The main motivation behind creating this piece of art in the Pallottines’ bulding in Paris was the fact that both Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli (later to become John XXIII) and Karol Wojtyła visited the place at one point in their lives. The former paid a visit to the bulding in the early 50s of the XXth century while he was still an apostolic nuncio. Meanwhile, the Pole visited the place in 1978, in which he consumed his meals with the nuns at the refectory – the same refectory in which today we can enjoy the work of Urbanowicz. This scene not only represents a significant moment in the Parisian Pallottines’ history, but also brings with itself a number of interpretations that can provoke deep conteplation about the Church’s history
Andrzej Okińczyc - „The Master and the Slave of the Portrait”
No full textAndrzej Okińczyc, born in 1949, will celebrate his fiftieth birthday in 1999 and for that very reason at least we should pose a question concerning the place established by the creative outcome of the Poznań artist in the most contemporary history of Polish painting, still regarded as one the so called young generation of Polish painters. Okińczyc is an artist best know for his portraits and selfportraits although he can be associated with the works of art that Tadeusz Nyczek calls “images of deception and reflection” as well as “frescos on walls”. Up till now he has had asignificant number of individual exhibitions both in Poland and abroad along with accompanying catalogues, he has also taken part in important group exhibitions devoted particularly to portraits. What is, then, and where is the place for Okińczyc's works in the melting pot of continuously arising means of expression or marking of one's individual artistic line, often pretending to be either innovative or revelational, of one's character eventually aiming at discovering or establishing what is the key issue for an artist – his own style? Okińczyc first of all paints the man. He is not afraid to be classical in his compositions or even academic, without a pejorative meaning of the word. In the case of the Poznań painter the term “classical” has abearing not only on his works' quality, but their character as well. His artistic creativity seems to be that of neoacademic. The drawing is maximally faithful to nature
in his studies of nudes, draperies and still lifes), replacing aphotograph. There seem to be two elements constituting his paintings: one, the drawing, which is academic and the other, the subject matter, which is nonacademic. He focuses on everyday reality of his workshop, his environment and flat. His works reveal certain qualities rather unique nowadays, such as modesty, the balance of emotional charges, harmony and typically classical egocentricity. Okińczyc does not register the surrounding reality, rather the rediscovers it anew, to his own private use, while executing his own interpretation via the painter's means. The portrait becomes not only a masterpiece of amodelling form and composition but also an interpretation of the man. All elements in a portrait cofunction harmoniously: the background, facial expression, look, pose, dress as well as the frame which constitutes an integral part of the whole composition. A particulary distinctive feature of Okińczyc's portraits is avery soft modelling form with afull range of changing chiaroscuro producing the effect of smoky veils and mists. It seems that acertain group of Okińczyc's portraits stands in proximity with the achievements of the Wprost group, represented, for instance, by Leszek Sobocki's canvas who found inspiration in the paintings of Jacek Malczewski and transformed them in aseries of selfportraits. Okińczyc has been and still is the master and the slave of the portrait, be it the images of his relatives, friends and acquaintances. He has always been the painter of himself and always in his own, Okińczyc-like manner
Gino Severini about Polish painting. 70th anniversary of the exhibition of Polish painters-soldiers in Rome in 1944
Full text linkThe paper is an annotated scholarly edition of a text written by Gino Severini, painter and art critic, further augmented with some bibliographical footnotes. Severini’s original essay constituted the preface to Wystawa polskich malarzy żołnierzy ( Exhibition of Polish painters-soldiers ), the catalogue of an exhibition arranged in 1944 in Rome by The Department of Culture and Press of the Polish Army Corps. This publication, hitherto unnoticed in Polish literature, is an attempt at evaluation – despite the continuing war – of artistic works created by Poles in the period 1939–1944 and at establishing their relation to contemporary European art, in particular Italian and French. The Italian writer especially emphasizes strong affinities of pictures shown at the Roman exhibition, created by such artists as Roman Burdyłło (fell in the battle of Monte Cassino), Józef Czapski, Adolf Glett, Stanisław Gliwa, Leopold Haar, Józef Jarema, Jan Marian Kościałkowski, Edward Matuszczak, Henryk Siedlanowski, Zygmunt Turkiewicz, Stanisław Westwalewicz, Tadeusz Wąs, and Janina Wolf-Bogucka, with the painterly experiences of French post-Impressionism
Witold Urbanowicz. Polish Pallottine-artist in Paris
Full text linkThe article is devoted to the selected aspects of the work of Witold Urbanowicz, a Pallottine monk, living and creating in France for the last couple of decades. His multi-threaded creation in the realm of painting, sculpture and stained glass is analyzed in the context of the first monographic exhibition (2 June – 30 September 2017, The District Museum in Suwałki (Muzeum Okregowe w Suwałkach)) Ever since his first years in Paris, where Urbanowicz came in 1972, the artist was one of the members of the editorial team of the Pallottine publishing house Editions du Dialogue as well as of lecture-discussion centre Centre du Dialogue, founded by reverend Josef Sadzik. The mentioned centre, until the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 was the main centre of Polish cultural life in France as well as the most important meeting point with politicians, researchers and artists. Living in the heart of Paris, in the Gathering Home of Pallottines at 25 rue Surcouf, Witold Urbanowicz SAC met numerous people important in Polish culture, literature and art, both those who still worked in the post-war Poland as well as the ones who had no intention of returning to the post-Yalta Poland after 1945. The article points out the clues and directions crucial to the understanding of Urbanowicz's artistic output, which did not appear out of the blue and without impulses and inspiration coming from the surrounding environment. This painter, sculptor and stained glass artist may not have always been aware of the fact that the shifts and evolution in both formal and stylistic aspects of his creative expression were influenced by the style of various artists living in France and attending the Pallottine Centre; those included Josef Czapski, Alina Szapocznikow or Jan Lebenstein, who in 1970 completed his stained-glass series 'Apocalypse', embellishing the lecture hall of the Centre, which doubles as a chapel in the Pallottine Home in Paris.The article is devoted to the selected aspects of the work of Witold Urbanowicz, a Pallottine monk, living and creating in France for the last couple of decades. His multi-threaded creation in the realm of painting, sculpture and stained glass is analyzed in the context of the first monographic exhibition (2 June – 30 September 2017, The District Museum in Suwałki (Muzeum Okregowe w Suwałkach)) Ever since his first years in Paris, where Urbanowicz came in 1972, the artist was one of the members of the editorial team of the Pallottine publishing house Editions du Dialogue as well as of lecture-discussion centre Centre du Dialogue, founded by reverend Josef Sadzik. The mentioned centre, until the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 was the main centre of Polish cultural life in France as well as the most important meeting point with politicians, researchers and artists. Living in the heart of Paris, in the Gathering Home of Pallottines at 25 rue Surcouf, Witold Urbanowicz SAC met numerous people important in Polish culture, literature and art, both those who still worked in the post-war Poland as well as the ones who had no intention of returning to the post-Yalta Poland after 1945. The article points out the clues and directions crucial to the understanding of Urbanowicz's artistic output, which did not appear out of the blue and without impulses and inspiration coming from the surrounding environment. This painter, sculptor and stained glass artist may not have always been aware of the fact that the shifts and evolution in both formal and stylistic aspects of his creative expression were influenced by the style of various artists living in France and attending the Pallottine Centre; those included Josef Czapski, Alina Szapocznikow or Jan Lebenstein, who in 1970 completed his stained-glass series 'Apocalypse', embellishing the lecture hall of the Centre, which doubles as a chapel in the Pallottine Home in Paris
Polish Diva in Venice. From the History of Italian Exhibitions of Cinematographic Art
No full textThe article focuses on several interesting poster projects undertaken by an Italian artist Attilio Alfieri (1904-1992). In the Polish written literature on the history of art and its connections with broadly understood cinematography no mention is given to this prolific Milan artist, who was particularly productive in the 30s and 40s of the XXth century. The first poster project shown during the I International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art in Venice in 1932 was the poster Lumiere, devoted to the inventors of the photo camera. Seven years later Alfieri prepared two projects for the seventh show of the Cinematographic Art held in Venice in 1939. The first was the poster titled La Divina presenting Greta Garbo, a Polish born actress and a silent film Diva, „looking” at the exhibition audiences half-mysteriously, half-hastily, as if in assertion of her enormous talent and beauty. As a companion to the Slavic actress Alfieri chose another cinema star, now of the southern temperament. In his composition called E. Duse (Ommagio alla 1 Diva italiana) the artist paid tribute to the brilliant Italian actress Eleonore Duse. Wearing a characteristic hat it was now Eleonore looking at her fans, raising her visage from the poster. The whole composition, set against a vibrant red background, accentuated what the artist had assumed as correct already in the very conception of the work, namely the idea of the cinema idol's „sainthood”. And if it is not a representation of a contemporary Madonna, then without doubt of a noble-born lady, full of sophistication and elegance. Besides the discussed compositions, the article highlights other works by Attilio Alfieri, such as the posters called Manifesto VII Esposizione Cinematografica Venezia, Moulin Rouge, or the post-war project from 1947 titled Manifesto VIII Esp. Inter. Cinematogtafica Venezia. All the compositions were created on the basis of the former projects, especially the huge industrial advertisements produced in the 30s. Alfieri's cinema posters constitute a further expansion of his expressive corpus. He was aware that in the era of the silent film an artist-designer faced a challenging task of „ehnancing” the sound and expression of the film stars that obviously cound not be heard from the screen via the cinema poster. Responding to the need Alfieri created multimedial works of art which functioned as a sort of automatic discourse between the artist himself and the language of photography. Photography, as the artist said, "being an automatic entity, can prompt other methods of work, and consequently make room for projects where there develops a dialogue between painting and a photographic representation, which in effect produces multimedial compositions
The picture of the Czech art according to Wlastimil Hofman
No full textThe text is a scholarly interpretation of the manuscript of Wlastimil Hofman's lecture on Czech art, delivered on 16 January 1934 in the Jagellonian University in Cracow. The manuscript comes from Jiài Karásek's collection that since 1960 has been kept in Prague, in the collection of Památník národního písmnictví. Seventy years ago in his lecture Wlastimil Hofman gave an outline of the history of Czech painting, starting from the period of the early Gothic, up to the artists and works from the break of the 19th century that were most important for Czech art. The choice of the Czech artists and their works presented to Polish students was influenced by both the Polish painter's personal views of social-historical nature and his artistic preferences – Hofman knew well Prague's artistic circles of those times and historical and political determinants, also of art, of the then young Czechoslovakia. In the text of his lecture Wlastimil Hofman did not conceal the fact that he did not know the old Czech art very well, so he fully based his opinions about artists and about their works, especially of the Gothic, Renaissance and baroque periods, on opinions expressed by the Czech historians of art who specialized in those periods, like Vincenc Kramaø or Vojtéch Volavka. Only the 19th century Czech painting that Hofman knew well was treated by the Polish painter more broadly and in greater detail. In this part of his lecture the artist expressed his personal tastes and likings, especially in reference to Czech artists of the period of the so-called “national awakening” that started at the break of the 18th century, when, first on the grounds of the Enlightenment ideology, and then of the 19th century nationalism the Czechs undertook actions aiming at revival of their nation. Along with building the foundations of a new economic structure and modern forms of political life they created the basic elements of the literary Czech language, of literature and of their own national art. Owing to the efforts they undertook, in all domains of life – starting from economy and ending with the problems connected with developing the nation's creative powers and national consciousness (with a special emphasis on the element of education, ethics and art), Czech entered the 20th century as the only nation in Central and Eastern Europe that did not have its own state, and after World War I, in 1918, they established Czechoslovakia, a country that was an element of Europe of that time within the so-called Versailles order, and one that was the crowning of the many centuries of Czechs' and Slovaks' national aspirations
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