DOI issue:
Rozprawy
DOI article:Słodkowski, Piotr: Partykularne znaczenia nowoczesności: wizualność I Wystawy Sztuki Nowoczesnej (1948) w świetle "Exposition internationale du surréalisme" (1947)
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.29070#0271
PARTYKULARNE ZNACZENIA NOWOCZESNOŚCI
269
developments. However, such an understanding of the event has not been reflected
in its critical interpretations.
The discourse provoked by the Exhibition of Modern Art - frorn the
contemporaneous press releases and comments through the studies of art historians
and memories of the participants - unequivocally identifles the arrangement and
idea of the show as a surrealist influence, in particular that of the Ehposihcm
<7^ sMrreaAsnu? of 1947. Since the value of the Cracow exhibition has
been connected with the French avant-garde, the resulting narration stresses the
vertical (hierarchical) dependence of the periphery on the artistic Centers. The
present paper attempts at an alternative analysis of the visual aspect of the
"modern" show.
On the basis of ample correspondence of Tadeusz Kantor and his wife, Ewa
Jurkiewicz, the author reconstructs KantoEs artistic horizon during his flrst visit in
Paris in the flrst half of 1947. Even though at that time the painter had a chance to
appreciate many different artistic idioms, reportedly he was most impressed by
surrealism. Although that particular trend dominated his later work, it does not
mean that the EAposihcm <7^ SMrrea/ismg must have influenced the
arrangement of the Exhibition of Modern Art. A detailed reconstruction of KantoEs
itinerary and a comparison of his scanty remarks on the Paris show with its
documentary photos clearly prove that the painter might have seen it only at an
early stage of its preparation. Hence, a genetic parallel between the two exhibitions
(in Paris and in Cracow) turns out to be a wrong direction of interpretation or even a
construction which reveals the conditioning of art history by other discourses.
Consequently, the starting point of the analysis presented in the paper is a
reconstruction of the visual aspect of the "modern" show on the basis of some well-
known and recently found photos, with the focus both on the arrangement of
paintings and the interior design of the four halls of the Cracow Pałace of Art.
The reconstructed visual aspect of the exhibition has been then typologically
confronted with two different models of exposition: the avant-garde one (in
particular surrealist), deflned by Brian 0'Doherty, and the museum one, defined by
Charlotte Klonk. As a result, a comparative analysis of the shows in Cracow and
Paris proves that the Exhibition of Modern Art corresponded not to the avant-garde,
but to the pnr eAce^cnce museum model. Still, the author does not claim that the
exposition was essentially conservative, but asks the question why it was arranged
in that manner. The key to the decisions taken in that respect is the cultural policy
of the communist authorities of Poland, and the efforts of all the artistic factions to
gain the state patronage. Paradoxically, arranging the exhibits according to the
didactic model of the museum demonstrated the social applicability of the avant-
garde much better than the alternatiye avant-garde arrangement.
269
developments. However, such an understanding of the event has not been reflected
in its critical interpretations.
The discourse provoked by the Exhibition of Modern Art - frorn the
contemporaneous press releases and comments through the studies of art historians
and memories of the participants - unequivocally identifles the arrangement and
idea of the show as a surrealist influence, in particular that of the Ehposihcm
<7^ sMrreaAsnu? of 1947. Since the value of the Cracow exhibition has
been connected with the French avant-garde, the resulting narration stresses the
vertical (hierarchical) dependence of the periphery on the artistic Centers. The
present paper attempts at an alternative analysis of the visual aspect of the
"modern" show.
On the basis of ample correspondence of Tadeusz Kantor and his wife, Ewa
Jurkiewicz, the author reconstructs KantoEs artistic horizon during his flrst visit in
Paris in the flrst half of 1947. Even though at that time the painter had a chance to
appreciate many different artistic idioms, reportedly he was most impressed by
surrealism. Although that particular trend dominated his later work, it does not
mean that the EAposihcm <7^ SMrrea/ismg must have influenced the
arrangement of the Exhibition of Modern Art. A detailed reconstruction of KantoEs
itinerary and a comparison of his scanty remarks on the Paris show with its
documentary photos clearly prove that the painter might have seen it only at an
early stage of its preparation. Hence, a genetic parallel between the two exhibitions
(in Paris and in Cracow) turns out to be a wrong direction of interpretation or even a
construction which reveals the conditioning of art history by other discourses.
Consequently, the starting point of the analysis presented in the paper is a
reconstruction of the visual aspect of the "modern" show on the basis of some well-
known and recently found photos, with the focus both on the arrangement of
paintings and the interior design of the four halls of the Cracow Pałace of Art.
The reconstructed visual aspect of the exhibition has been then typologically
confronted with two different models of exposition: the avant-garde one (in
particular surrealist), deflned by Brian 0'Doherty, and the museum one, defined by
Charlotte Klonk. As a result, a comparative analysis of the shows in Cracow and
Paris proves that the Exhibition of Modern Art corresponded not to the avant-garde,
but to the pnr eAce^cnce museum model. Still, the author does not claim that the
exposition was essentially conservative, but asks the question why it was arranged
in that manner. The key to the decisions taken in that respect is the cultural policy
of the communist authorities of Poland, and the efforts of all the artistic factions to
gain the state patronage. Paradoxically, arranging the exhibits according to the
didactic model of the museum demonstrated the social applicability of the avant-
garde much better than the alternatiye avant-garde arrangement.