DOI issue:
Nr. 3-4
DOI article:Gładkowska, Ewa: Robert Budzinski - grafik, malarz, literat z Prus Wschodnich
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49519#0300
290
Ewa Gładkowska
Robert Budzinski, graphic artist, painter
and man ofletters from East Prussia
This article is devoted to the life and creative work of
Robert Budzinski, a graphic artist, painter and man of
letters who was born in 1874 in the East Prussian
village of Klein Schlafen (Pol.: Sławka Mała), and
died in Marburg in 1955 The artist's rich and varied
works have been portrayed here in the complex
cultural context of East Prussia as it existed during
his lifetime. Budzinski's post-war fate and that of his
works has also been presented in the main text. The
artistic inspirations evoked by this particular artist's
home region is emphasised, while at the same time,
underlying the irony and distance in which he treated
the myth of East Prussia which he had himselfhelped
build up, as well as the elements applied in
'demythologising' the region which are also clearly
present in his work. Budzinski's empirical attitude
and universal activity has been placed in
a wider context relating to the revolution in
Weltanschauung experienced in Germany at the turn
of the 19th century that was referred to as
Lebensreform. Budzinski was an active participant
in a movement known as Wandervogel which, as an
active part of the Lebensreform movement, encour-
aged learning about the world by hiking. In his crea-
tive work, his notion of the role of art in life and
commentaries concerning the socio-political reali-
ties of his time, Budzinski became an active propo-
nent of this prominent cultural formation in
Wilhelminian Germany. Lebensreform was aimed at
a renewal of life in the area of all fields of socio-
cultural activity. The need for a basie change in atti-
tudes to life found its reflection in the aesthetics,
religion, philosophy, literature, learning and fine arts
that were declared and practised at the time. The
slogans 'return to nature' and 'natural knowledge of
life' were ofbasic importance to the movement. The
renewal of life as a reaction to the technical proc-
esses dominating civilisation which, in spite oftheir
positive aspects deprived whole elements ofsociety
the right to a dignified life, was responsible for
evolving a single-dimensional development of man,
shifting the main emphasis of such 'progress' to the
building of a new attitude towards the human body
and spiritual development ofmankind. In this article
1. Betender Knabe ('Boy at prayer'), 1906, graphic
art by Fidus. Reprod. from: Fidus, Kunstler alles
Lichtbaren, Hrsg. Wolfgang de Bruyn, Berlin 1998,
p.20
attention is drawn to the aesthetics arising in such a
context that consciously rejected the artistic searches
of modernism, seeking its sources if inspiration
rather in 19th-century landscape. On the basis ofthis
aforementioned social and cultural background,
analysis ofBudzinski's work takes on its true dimen-
sion.
In the vision of the world built up by the artist,
the authoress recognises the influence of neo-
Platonism as well as distinguishing the experiences
of various cultures and periods in human history.
The mystical interpretation of the world creates an
image of man filled with nostalgia for the perfection
of the absolute. The literal and painterly vision of
the world closest at hand introduces the element of
irony, distance and 'demytholigisation' in the way
Budziński propagated his image of East Prussia.
Emphasis is also laid on this artist's avoidance of
any form of political manipulation and the critical
stance he adopted towards the Third Reich.
Iconographical and iconological analysis accom-
panies the formal analysis carried out by the author-
ess, who emphasises the artist's experimental
innovativeness in graphic art; particularly in his
original techniques concerning linocut printing for
which he has won wide acclaim as a master.
The current state of research included in the text
provides convincing evidence that the artist is known
today mainly among specialists and collectors.
Budzinski's interesting artistic inheritance is worthy
of closer attention not only in modern-day Poland
but equally in Lithuania and the Kalinigrad Oblast
ofthe Russian Federation. As such, the artist's works
may be seen as 'texts of culture' which may enrich
knowledge on the cultural heritage of these areas
(i.e. the former territories of East Prussia). The
means of measuring Budzinski's personal contribu-
tion to the cultural heritage of Europe is placed in a
biogram and reproductions of his graphic art that are
contained in an exhibition catalogue devoted to the
artistic colonies in Europe held in 2002 in Nurem-
berg’s Germanisches Nationalmuseum, being organ-
ised under the custody of the chairwoman of the
European Parliament.
Translated by Peter Martyn
2. Gottsucher ('Searcher of God'), ca. 1927, wood-
cut. Reprod. from: Giordano-Bruno-Buch, Hrsg. Ri-
chard Budzinski- Wecker, Uranus-Verlag Max
Duphorn, Bad Oldesloe 1927, p. 163
Ewa Gładkowska
Robert Budzinski, graphic artist, painter
and man ofletters from East Prussia
This article is devoted to the life and creative work of
Robert Budzinski, a graphic artist, painter and man of
letters who was born in 1874 in the East Prussian
village of Klein Schlafen (Pol.: Sławka Mała), and
died in Marburg in 1955 The artist's rich and varied
works have been portrayed here in the complex
cultural context of East Prussia as it existed during
his lifetime. Budzinski's post-war fate and that of his
works has also been presented in the main text. The
artistic inspirations evoked by this particular artist's
home region is emphasised, while at the same time,
underlying the irony and distance in which he treated
the myth of East Prussia which he had himselfhelped
build up, as well as the elements applied in
'demythologising' the region which are also clearly
present in his work. Budzinski's empirical attitude
and universal activity has been placed in
a wider context relating to the revolution in
Weltanschauung experienced in Germany at the turn
of the 19th century that was referred to as
Lebensreform. Budzinski was an active participant
in a movement known as Wandervogel which, as an
active part of the Lebensreform movement, encour-
aged learning about the world by hiking. In his crea-
tive work, his notion of the role of art in life and
commentaries concerning the socio-political reali-
ties of his time, Budzinski became an active propo-
nent of this prominent cultural formation in
Wilhelminian Germany. Lebensreform was aimed at
a renewal of life in the area of all fields of socio-
cultural activity. The need for a basie change in atti-
tudes to life found its reflection in the aesthetics,
religion, philosophy, literature, learning and fine arts
that were declared and practised at the time. The
slogans 'return to nature' and 'natural knowledge of
life' were ofbasic importance to the movement. The
renewal of life as a reaction to the technical proc-
esses dominating civilisation which, in spite oftheir
positive aspects deprived whole elements ofsociety
the right to a dignified life, was responsible for
evolving a single-dimensional development of man,
shifting the main emphasis of such 'progress' to the
building of a new attitude towards the human body
and spiritual development ofmankind. In this article
1. Betender Knabe ('Boy at prayer'), 1906, graphic
art by Fidus. Reprod. from: Fidus, Kunstler alles
Lichtbaren, Hrsg. Wolfgang de Bruyn, Berlin 1998,
p.20
attention is drawn to the aesthetics arising in such a
context that consciously rejected the artistic searches
of modernism, seeking its sources if inspiration
rather in 19th-century landscape. On the basis ofthis
aforementioned social and cultural background,
analysis ofBudzinski's work takes on its true dimen-
sion.
In the vision of the world built up by the artist,
the authoress recognises the influence of neo-
Platonism as well as distinguishing the experiences
of various cultures and periods in human history.
The mystical interpretation of the world creates an
image of man filled with nostalgia for the perfection
of the absolute. The literal and painterly vision of
the world closest at hand introduces the element of
irony, distance and 'demytholigisation' in the way
Budziński propagated his image of East Prussia.
Emphasis is also laid on this artist's avoidance of
any form of political manipulation and the critical
stance he adopted towards the Third Reich.
Iconographical and iconological analysis accom-
panies the formal analysis carried out by the author-
ess, who emphasises the artist's experimental
innovativeness in graphic art; particularly in his
original techniques concerning linocut printing for
which he has won wide acclaim as a master.
The current state of research included in the text
provides convincing evidence that the artist is known
today mainly among specialists and collectors.
Budzinski's interesting artistic inheritance is worthy
of closer attention not only in modern-day Poland
but equally in Lithuania and the Kalinigrad Oblast
ofthe Russian Federation. As such, the artist's works
may be seen as 'texts of culture' which may enrich
knowledge on the cultural heritage of these areas
(i.e. the former territories of East Prussia). The
means of measuring Budzinski's personal contribu-
tion to the cultural heritage of Europe is placed in a
biogram and reproductions of his graphic art that are
contained in an exhibition catalogue devoted to the
artistic colonies in Europe held in 2002 in Nurem-
berg’s Germanisches Nationalmuseum, being organ-
ised under the custody of the chairwoman of the
European Parliament.
Translated by Peter Martyn
2. Gottsucher ('Searcher of God'), ca. 1927, wood-
cut. Reprod. from: Giordano-Bruno-Buch, Hrsg. Ri-
chard Budzinski- Wecker, Uranus-Verlag Max
Duphorn, Bad Oldesloe 1927, p. 163