DOI issue:
Nr. 1
DOI article:Artykuły
DOI article:Oczko, Piotr: Martwa natura w wędzidle stereotypu: Wizje sztuki holenderskiej Zbigniewa Herberta i problem z ich recepcją
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.71008#0118
116
Piotr Oczko
Still Life in Bridle of a Stereotype.
Zbigniew Herbert's Visions of Dutch Art
and the Issue of their Reception
In this paper the author deals with the book by a
Polish poet, Zbigniew Herbert Martwa natura
z wędzidłem (Still Life with a Bridle: Essays and
Apocryphas), first published in 1993, which had a
tremendous impact upon the reception of the 17th
century Dutch painting in Poland and formed the
crucial basis for its powerful, long-lasting under-
standing. Moreover, Herbert's book has been com-
monly read as almost an academic, unquestionable
work. The author attempts to show that Herbert's
vivid narration is only a literary, very subjective
poetical vision of Dutch art, deeply rooted in the 19th
century perception of the Netherlandish painting and
so called 'Hollandism' - a cultural and artistic myth
of Holland, unusually popular in Europe at that time.
Herbert, choosing to rely on the outdated writings
(e.g. Eugene Fromentin, Theophile Thore-Burger,
and Hyppolyte Taine), greatly misinterprets the
phenomenon of the 17th century Dutch art and
culture. His un-heroic visions of the Dutch painting,
interpretations and comments upon Johannes
Torrentius's Emblematic Still Life with Flagon,
Glass, Jug and Bridle and, finally, the description of
the famous tulipmania of 1637, do not find much
support in present academic research and should be
refuted. However, it has to be strongly emphasised
that Herbert's book belongs to literature, not art
history, and its author cannot be blamed for any
academic misconceptions and the way in which his
work was wrongly perceived later on.
Piotr Oczko
Still Life in Bridle of a Stereotype.
Zbigniew Herbert's Visions of Dutch Art
and the Issue of their Reception
In this paper the author deals with the book by a
Polish poet, Zbigniew Herbert Martwa natura
z wędzidłem (Still Life with a Bridle: Essays and
Apocryphas), first published in 1993, which had a
tremendous impact upon the reception of the 17th
century Dutch painting in Poland and formed the
crucial basis for its powerful, long-lasting under-
standing. Moreover, Herbert's book has been com-
monly read as almost an academic, unquestionable
work. The author attempts to show that Herbert's
vivid narration is only a literary, very subjective
poetical vision of Dutch art, deeply rooted in the 19th
century perception of the Netherlandish painting and
so called 'Hollandism' - a cultural and artistic myth
of Holland, unusually popular in Europe at that time.
Herbert, choosing to rely on the outdated writings
(e.g. Eugene Fromentin, Theophile Thore-Burger,
and Hyppolyte Taine), greatly misinterprets the
phenomenon of the 17th century Dutch art and
culture. His un-heroic visions of the Dutch painting,
interpretations and comments upon Johannes
Torrentius's Emblematic Still Life with Flagon,
Glass, Jug and Bridle and, finally, the description of
the famous tulipmania of 1637, do not find much
support in present academic research and should be
refuted. However, it has to be strongly emphasised
that Herbert's book belongs to literature, not art
history, and its author cannot be blamed for any
academic misconceptions and the way in which his
work was wrongly perceived later on.