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111 works from the collection of Muzeum Sztuki in Lodz

by Miroslaw Borusiewicz, Editor
Muzeum Sztuki, Lodz, 2004
240 pp., illus. Trade, $N/A
ISBN: 83-97937-33-9.

Reviewed by Stefaan Van Ryssen
Hogeschool Gent
Jan Delvinlaan 115, 9000 Gent, Belgium


stefaan.vanryssen@pandora.be


The Sztuki Muzeum in Lodz, Poland, was the first museum of contemporary art in Europe. Its roots lay in the collection of Kazimierz Bartoszewicz, a Cracow-based writer in 1930, and it quickly acquired avant-garde works from all over the world. Michel Seuphor, who helped its creation, pointed out that it was the second permanent collection of avant-garde in the world, after the Abstraktes Kabinett in Hannover. Works by Arp, Calder, Danaunay, Van Doesburg, Léger, Ozenfant, Picasso, Schwitters, Michaux and Taeuber-Arp constituted the core of the collection, next to paintings by lesser known Polish artists such as Strzeminski, Kobro and Stazewski from the "a.r." group and the more famous Stanislaw Igancy Witkiewicz.

The development of the museum came to a standstill by the outbreak of World War II. Between 1939 and 1945 the museum remained under German administration, when the collection of modern art was labelled "entartete und judische Kunst" (decadent and Jewish art). From 1945 the entire collection ranging from Baroque to Surrealist art was again on show, but the museum was closed by the authorities in 1950, as incompatible with the principles of Socialist Realism. Only in 1960 was a new gallery of 20th century art created.

The editor selected 111 works from the museum as an introduction into its rich collection and as a showcase for lesser-known Polish art through the ages. Each image is accompanied by a short introduction, situating the artist in a Polish and international art context where necessary. The works by Moeyaert, Signac, Feininger, Vantongerloo, Seligmann and Ernst, Klee and Picasso, Spoerri, Boltanski, Vasarely, Uecker, Wiener, Beuys and Mariusz Kruk are an interesting point of reference for the development of Polish art, and the whole selection shows that Polish artists haven’t been barred from a single influence and haven’t missed an avant-garde train in Western art. Judging from the illustrated works, some of them have been working at a very high level indeed. Among many others, I want to mention my personal top three: Stanislaw Fijalkowski’s painting ‘Angel in the Shape of an Earthworm’, Edward Krasnski’s ‘Atelier Puzzle’, a humorous game played with cut-up representations of space and featuring his ubiquitous ‘blue line’ of scotch stuck horizontally at the height of 130 centimeters and a fabulous ‘Multiple Portrait’ from 1917 by Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz (aka Witkacy).

At times, it isn’t clear why the editor has chosen a certain ordering of the selection. It is neither alphabetical nor strictly chronological or stylistic. But that is only a minor criticism considering the many merits of this book. Most importantly, it offers an easily readable and well-illustrated introduction in contemporary Polish art. And on top of that, it makes you want to go to the Sztuki, whenever you’re in the neighbourhood. There are a lot of fine things to see there, that’s for sure.

 

 




Updated 1st December 2005


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