Grafika artystyczna w twórczości polskich artystów awangardy lat 30. XX wieku

Abstract

The article refers to the phenomenon unique for Polish art of the interwar period, namely graphic art performed in the 1930s by the artists from Krakow (Andrzej Jurkiewicz, Leopold Lewicki, Stanisław Osostowicz, Eugeniusz Waniek, Jonasz Stern, Aleksander Winnicki – Radziewicz) and Łódź (Karol Hiller, Władysław Strzemiński, Aniela Menkesowa, Bolesław Hochlinger) milieus. The radicalization of the modes of expression, formal and technique endeavors of the artists who practiced graphic arts together to painting, or for whom graphic works constituted only peripheral form of artistic expression, led to the solutions the scale of which was unprecedented in other artistic circles. Expressive lines, simplification of form, fragmentalization of shapes and the elimination of superfluous elements, omitting or deformation of space, frequently concurred with the current socially engaged matters. A considerable amount of graphic works from the documentary current of Krakow milieu, referred to everyday life of the city and the poor, satirized portrayals of working-class suburbs; some accents of critique and original comments began visible. The type of narration and the crudeness of certain works created certain parallels with German graphic art of the Weimar Republic. Lithographs and linocuts by Karol Hiller, usually following the discipline of geometry were thematically connected with the graphic works by the members of Krakow Group [ Grupa Krakowska ]. Hiller employed the technique of heliography, invented in 1932, to create organic and geometric abstracts that at times were enriched with the reminiscences of the motifs of machinery, instruments or human figure. Bolesław Hochlinger and Aniela Menkesowa in turn in their lithographs referred to analytic Cubism. The avant-garde milieus of Krakow and Łódź within the realm of graphic arts introduced new values that were on the one hand the reflection of the artists’ reaction to the changes in European art, and on the other hand constituted the reaction to the political and social situation in the country. Graphic works of the abovementioned artists constitute a unique phenomenon in the context of the tendencies dominant in Polish graphic arts of the interwar period, in particular when compared with the outputs by “proper” graphic artists.