DOI issue:
Nr. 1-2
DOI article:Wierzbicka, Anna: Polsko-francuski krytyk Waldemar George i jego poglądy na sztukę
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49354#0172
166
Anna Wierzbicka
Montparnasse, and who created an informal group
linked by the same place of living, meetings and ex-
hibitions. George discussed their oeuvre in articles,
books and introductions to exhibition catalogues.
The critic is considered to be the one who discov-
ered Chaim Soutine, the main expressionist of the
Ecole de Paris. He also recognised the unknown, ex-
cellent cubist of Hungarian origin - Jozsef Csaky, as
well as the painters Henri Epstein, Simon Mondzain,
Mane-Katz, Oscar Miestchaninoff, and sculptor
Jacques Lipchitz. George wrote a lot of articles
about Louis Marcoussis and his wife Alice Halicka
whom he knew and was friendly with. He also no-
ticed Moise Kisling. He published articles in the
Polish press. Similarly to the critic and art-dealer
Adolphe Basler, he was a correspondent of the
Polish periodical 'Wiadomości Literackie'. In 1922
George was nominated secretary of the exhibition
'Young Poland' (Jeune Pologne), which took place
in the Musee Crillon in Paris.
In the middle of the 1920s the critic was, above
all, interested in the post-cubist and classicistic
painting of Roger de La Fresnaye and in the oeuvrc
of artists in which George noticed expressionistic
tendencies and an emotional transfiguration of eve-
ryday life. He thus wrote about Georges Rouault,
Maurice Vlaminck, Amedeo Modigliani and Marc
Chagall. He often underlined the fact that a contem-
porary artist should not only express the spirit of the
epoch but also establish social and national princi-
ples. According to him, the French modernists
should try to annihilate social isolation and develop
strong ties between the artists and the public (citing
here the example of the Soviet Union and the
constructivists). The critic warned his readers against
the danger of the French inclination toward art for
art's sake, the effect of academism. He also stressed
the fact that the artist should avoid treating art as
a routine.
Around 1927, however, George started to write
about the relations between Eastern and Western
Europe, which, according to him, should determine
the basis of an ideological rebirth of France. In the
critic's publications from the late 1920s and 1930s
one can notice the influence of the Austrian art his-
torian of Polish origin Josef Strzygowski and the
German philosopher Oswald Spengler. In 1930
George, along with Amedee Ozenfant, was the cura-
tor of the exhibition 'Appels dTtalie', organized dur-
ing the XVIIth Biennale in Venice. He supported
such Italian artists as: Carlo Carra, Filippo de Pisis,
Mario Sironi, Massimo Campiglio, Alberto Savinio
and Gino Severini and also artists which he called
the neohumanists (among others Christian Berard,
Therese Debains, Eugene and Leonide Berman,
Helmut Kolle and Joseph Floch).
By the end of the 1920s George searched for the
'psychic constants' for men from Western Europe. He
found these constants in Greek and Roman art, in the
art of the Renaissance, in 18th century art and in the
oeuvre of the neohumanists. In the years 1929-1934
the critic published texts concerning his ideas on the
rebirth of French art in the periodical 'Formes'. He
was the editor-in-chief of this periodical. 'Formes'
also published articles by Strzygowski and Spengler
and texts written by other critics, for example:
Germain Bazin, Andre Malraux, Rene Huyghe who
also noticed a crisis in French modern art.
George now attacked cubism and Picasso. He
called Picasso 'a primitive' artist of the late 1920s and
1930s. This 'primitivism', or inspirations of African
art, was, according to the critic, a threat to humanism
and European culture. Picasso's geometrical style,
was: 'a manifestation of an epoch [...] which is di-
rected toward rationalism, which is not affected by the
experiences of the heart'. George described the
oeuvre of Derain, who, according to him, took over
the heritage of the 18th century, as standing in opposi-
tion to Picasso's works.
In the years 1929-1930 George began collaborat-
ing with the periodical 'L'Art Contemporain', edited
by Jan Brzękowski and Wanda Chodasiewicz-
Grabowska, who, at that time, was Leger's wife.
George's article on Picasso, which was published in
this periodical, received an agitated response.
The critic also joined the wave of negative opin-
ions concerning the Ecole de Paris. A couple of years
earlier he wrote that the Parisian bohemian art scene,
cosmopolitanism and diversity of nations added vital-
ity to France, in the 1930s, however, George sup-
ported the thesis that this heterogeneity led to the
extirpation of French art. Thus the oeuvre of artists
whom he once supported now expressed a society
deprived of its basis by its intellectualism, atheism and
materialism. Modern art was responsible for this
destabilisation and revolt.
George's opinions and his resorting to fascism
was criticised by, among others, Guillaume Janneau,
Maurice Raynal, Emile Teriade and Amedee
Ozenfant. Polish critics, like Chil Aronson and
Zygmunt S. Klingsland, who lived in France and
knew George also argued with him.
Waldemar George was well-known in Poland in
the 1920s and 1930s. He often visited £ódY, where
his mother lived. In 1932 he delivered a lecture in
the Institute for the Propagation of Art in Warsaw, in
1935 he had a lecture in the Jagiellonian University
in Cracow. He was also well-known in Lithuania.
George's last articles before the outbreak of the
Second World War were written in 1939. It has not
been clearly established what he did and where he was
during the years 1939-1945. It is most likely that he
Anna Wierzbicka
Montparnasse, and who created an informal group
linked by the same place of living, meetings and ex-
hibitions. George discussed their oeuvre in articles,
books and introductions to exhibition catalogues.
The critic is considered to be the one who discov-
ered Chaim Soutine, the main expressionist of the
Ecole de Paris. He also recognised the unknown, ex-
cellent cubist of Hungarian origin - Jozsef Csaky, as
well as the painters Henri Epstein, Simon Mondzain,
Mane-Katz, Oscar Miestchaninoff, and sculptor
Jacques Lipchitz. George wrote a lot of articles
about Louis Marcoussis and his wife Alice Halicka
whom he knew and was friendly with. He also no-
ticed Moise Kisling. He published articles in the
Polish press. Similarly to the critic and art-dealer
Adolphe Basler, he was a correspondent of the
Polish periodical 'Wiadomości Literackie'. In 1922
George was nominated secretary of the exhibition
'Young Poland' (Jeune Pologne), which took place
in the Musee Crillon in Paris.
In the middle of the 1920s the critic was, above
all, interested in the post-cubist and classicistic
painting of Roger de La Fresnaye and in the oeuvrc
of artists in which George noticed expressionistic
tendencies and an emotional transfiguration of eve-
ryday life. He thus wrote about Georges Rouault,
Maurice Vlaminck, Amedeo Modigliani and Marc
Chagall. He often underlined the fact that a contem-
porary artist should not only express the spirit of the
epoch but also establish social and national princi-
ples. According to him, the French modernists
should try to annihilate social isolation and develop
strong ties between the artists and the public (citing
here the example of the Soviet Union and the
constructivists). The critic warned his readers against
the danger of the French inclination toward art for
art's sake, the effect of academism. He also stressed
the fact that the artist should avoid treating art as
a routine.
Around 1927, however, George started to write
about the relations between Eastern and Western
Europe, which, according to him, should determine
the basis of an ideological rebirth of France. In the
critic's publications from the late 1920s and 1930s
one can notice the influence of the Austrian art his-
torian of Polish origin Josef Strzygowski and the
German philosopher Oswald Spengler. In 1930
George, along with Amedee Ozenfant, was the cura-
tor of the exhibition 'Appels dTtalie', organized dur-
ing the XVIIth Biennale in Venice. He supported
such Italian artists as: Carlo Carra, Filippo de Pisis,
Mario Sironi, Massimo Campiglio, Alberto Savinio
and Gino Severini and also artists which he called
the neohumanists (among others Christian Berard,
Therese Debains, Eugene and Leonide Berman,
Helmut Kolle and Joseph Floch).
By the end of the 1920s George searched for the
'psychic constants' for men from Western Europe. He
found these constants in Greek and Roman art, in the
art of the Renaissance, in 18th century art and in the
oeuvre of the neohumanists. In the years 1929-1934
the critic published texts concerning his ideas on the
rebirth of French art in the periodical 'Formes'. He
was the editor-in-chief of this periodical. 'Formes'
also published articles by Strzygowski and Spengler
and texts written by other critics, for example:
Germain Bazin, Andre Malraux, Rene Huyghe who
also noticed a crisis in French modern art.
George now attacked cubism and Picasso. He
called Picasso 'a primitive' artist of the late 1920s and
1930s. This 'primitivism', or inspirations of African
art, was, according to the critic, a threat to humanism
and European culture. Picasso's geometrical style,
was: 'a manifestation of an epoch [...] which is di-
rected toward rationalism, which is not affected by the
experiences of the heart'. George described the
oeuvre of Derain, who, according to him, took over
the heritage of the 18th century, as standing in opposi-
tion to Picasso's works.
In the years 1929-1930 George began collaborat-
ing with the periodical 'L'Art Contemporain', edited
by Jan Brzękowski and Wanda Chodasiewicz-
Grabowska, who, at that time, was Leger's wife.
George's article on Picasso, which was published in
this periodical, received an agitated response.
The critic also joined the wave of negative opin-
ions concerning the Ecole de Paris. A couple of years
earlier he wrote that the Parisian bohemian art scene,
cosmopolitanism and diversity of nations added vital-
ity to France, in the 1930s, however, George sup-
ported the thesis that this heterogeneity led to the
extirpation of French art. Thus the oeuvre of artists
whom he once supported now expressed a society
deprived of its basis by its intellectualism, atheism and
materialism. Modern art was responsible for this
destabilisation and revolt.
George's opinions and his resorting to fascism
was criticised by, among others, Guillaume Janneau,
Maurice Raynal, Emile Teriade and Amedee
Ozenfant. Polish critics, like Chil Aronson and
Zygmunt S. Klingsland, who lived in France and
knew George also argued with him.
Waldemar George was well-known in Poland in
the 1920s and 1930s. He often visited £ódY, where
his mother lived. In 1932 he delivered a lecture in
the Institute for the Propagation of Art in Warsaw, in
1935 he had a lecture in the Jagiellonian University
in Cracow. He was also well-known in Lithuania.
George's last articles before the outbreak of the
Second World War were written in 1939. It has not
been clearly established what he did and where he was
during the years 1939-1945. It is most likely that he