DOI Heft:
Nr. 1-2
DOI Artikel:Zagrodzki, Janusz: On the Question of Constructivism, [1]: Meditations on Colour
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18944#0049
Janusz Zagrodzki
ON THE OUESTION OF CONSTRUCTMSM.
1. MEDITATIONS ON COLOUR
Contemplating Strzemińskim paintings and drawings, and looking through his writings
once again, I wondered whether there was any important aspect of his broadly discussed
art which had not been examined; an aspect which for its very distinctness had been over-
looked by art historians because it had been overshadowed by morę essential themes.
Strzemińskim writings reveal many as yet undiscussed themes, discourses which he
conducted with himself, often changing his opinion and even contradicting himself. From
the beginning of his artistic career, including the period spent in Soviet Russia, Strzemiń-
ski the teacher debated with Strzemiński the art theoretician. Strzemiński the doctrinaire
attempted a compromise with Strzemiński the observer of naturę. The materialist thinker
fought with the mystic. The Constructivist and Unist negotiated with the metaphorical
painter. And to complicate things further Strzemiński the Marxist tried to overcome his
own “reactionary” past, to come to terms with the new social reality of the Polish People’s
Republic after 1945. Finally there is the Strzemiński who was disgraced and dismissed
from his teaching position by the communist authorities, on the verge of poverty and con-
tinued to add Marxist comments to the completed text of his Theory of Vision-1
At the 1971 conference devoted to Strzemińskim art, which took place on the 40th an-
niversary of the International Collection of Modern Art in Łódź2, the only art historian to
attempt a critical look at Strzemińskim work was Ksawery Piwocki.3 His paper dealt with
problems of painting quality, colour and metaphor - subjects considered at the time to be
rather embarrassing, which were rarely taken up. I should think it is the issue of colour in
Strzemińskim art which has apparently remained unresolved.
The concept of “pure art” and “pure painting” appeared after 1910 when creating
a new reality became almost an obsession in many artistic endeavours. While the rela-
tion between art and society generated heated debate at the time, frequently provoking
violent emotions, the connection between art and naturę, in relation to the confrontation
with modern science, underwent constant change. Chevreul’s study4 and the works of
Helmholtz and Rood, which had once attracted the interest of the Neo-lmpresionists Seu-
rat and Signac, now became a source of experiments with colour for Delaunay and Kup-
ka, who also drew inspiration from Newton in creating their most abstract works: Simul-
taneous Disks (1912) and Newton' Disks (1911-1912). Even though these works are ex-
treme in the case of both artists, they hardly constitute fully justified examples of pure
painting. Delaunay attempted to express dazzlement with light, giving form to his visual
perceptions, and Kupka’s Disks have their origins in cosmic ideology. It is Balla’s The
Mutual Permeation of Colour (1912) which can be considered as an example of consis-
tent interest in such aspects of painting as structure and colour, and as such can be re-
garded as a work coming close to what is called “pure art”.
1. The Theory of Vision existed as a series of lectures, constantly reworked, almost from the start of Strzemiński’s
teaching career. The first remarks on viewing old art go back to 1920 (Raboczij Put, 1910, no 158). The text, which
was published in 1958 in Cracow, was prepared on the basis of a typescript of the lectures, copied after Strzemiń-
ski^ death.
2. Materiały sesji naukowej z okazji 40-lecia powstania w Łodzi Międzynarodowej Kolekcji Sztuki Nowoczesnej, Łódź
22-23 maja 1971.
3. K. Piwocki, O Strzemińskim inaczej..., in: Materiały sesji naukowej..., op. cit.
4. M. Chevreul, De la łoi du contraste simultanś des couleurs..., Paris 1836.
47
ON THE OUESTION OF CONSTRUCTMSM.
1. MEDITATIONS ON COLOUR
Contemplating Strzemińskim paintings and drawings, and looking through his writings
once again, I wondered whether there was any important aspect of his broadly discussed
art which had not been examined; an aspect which for its very distinctness had been over-
looked by art historians because it had been overshadowed by morę essential themes.
Strzemińskim writings reveal many as yet undiscussed themes, discourses which he
conducted with himself, often changing his opinion and even contradicting himself. From
the beginning of his artistic career, including the period spent in Soviet Russia, Strzemiń-
ski the teacher debated with Strzemiński the art theoretician. Strzemiński the doctrinaire
attempted a compromise with Strzemiński the observer of naturę. The materialist thinker
fought with the mystic. The Constructivist and Unist negotiated with the metaphorical
painter. And to complicate things further Strzemiński the Marxist tried to overcome his
own “reactionary” past, to come to terms with the new social reality of the Polish People’s
Republic after 1945. Finally there is the Strzemiński who was disgraced and dismissed
from his teaching position by the communist authorities, on the verge of poverty and con-
tinued to add Marxist comments to the completed text of his Theory of Vision-1
At the 1971 conference devoted to Strzemińskim art, which took place on the 40th an-
niversary of the International Collection of Modern Art in Łódź2, the only art historian to
attempt a critical look at Strzemińskim work was Ksawery Piwocki.3 His paper dealt with
problems of painting quality, colour and metaphor - subjects considered at the time to be
rather embarrassing, which were rarely taken up. I should think it is the issue of colour in
Strzemińskim art which has apparently remained unresolved.
The concept of “pure art” and “pure painting” appeared after 1910 when creating
a new reality became almost an obsession in many artistic endeavours. While the rela-
tion between art and society generated heated debate at the time, frequently provoking
violent emotions, the connection between art and naturę, in relation to the confrontation
with modern science, underwent constant change. Chevreul’s study4 and the works of
Helmholtz and Rood, which had once attracted the interest of the Neo-lmpresionists Seu-
rat and Signac, now became a source of experiments with colour for Delaunay and Kup-
ka, who also drew inspiration from Newton in creating their most abstract works: Simul-
taneous Disks (1912) and Newton' Disks (1911-1912). Even though these works are ex-
treme in the case of both artists, they hardly constitute fully justified examples of pure
painting. Delaunay attempted to express dazzlement with light, giving form to his visual
perceptions, and Kupka’s Disks have their origins in cosmic ideology. It is Balla’s The
Mutual Permeation of Colour (1912) which can be considered as an example of consis-
tent interest in such aspects of painting as structure and colour, and as such can be re-
garded as a work coming close to what is called “pure art”.
1. The Theory of Vision existed as a series of lectures, constantly reworked, almost from the start of Strzemiński’s
teaching career. The first remarks on viewing old art go back to 1920 (Raboczij Put, 1910, no 158). The text, which
was published in 1958 in Cracow, was prepared on the basis of a typescript of the lectures, copied after Strzemiń-
ski^ death.
2. Materiały sesji naukowej z okazji 40-lecia powstania w Łodzi Międzynarodowej Kolekcji Sztuki Nowoczesnej, Łódź
22-23 maja 1971.
3. K. Piwocki, O Strzemińskim inaczej..., in: Materiały sesji naukowej..., op. cit.
4. M. Chevreul, De la łoi du contraste simultanś des couleurs..., Paris 1836.
47