DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.41588#0015
One os the main creative motives was the search sor a national style or, more broadly, the
distinctness which was the aspiration of Polisch art even back in the 19th century. The recovery and
consolidation os independence coincided with the crystallisation os Art Deco tendencies. Thanks to
this coincidence the new style could aspire to being national, as a result os which it was sanctioned as
the new state’s representative style. Aster ?he war, the ambiton to work out a programme os
contemporary genuinely Polish art had a difserent motivation from that prevailing during the
partition period. It was no longer a matter os sustaining Polishness endangered by denationalization,
and no longer a matter os proving the nation’s ethnic and cultural unity to itsels and the world. The
demonstration os the society’s vital sorce and aspirations became the main motive. Polish artists felt
they had to join the mainstream of European culture as an equal partner, sinding support in the native
tradition.
This is why in part the new style had native ancestors. Emphasis was laid on links with the solk art
practised in various regions os the country, hence the activity os Polska Sztuka Stosowana (Society sor
Polish Applied Art, est. 1901) and its successor Warsztaty Krakowskie (Cracow Workshops
Association, est. 1913) was continued. Members os both these groups were largely the creators os the
Polish variation os Art Deco responsible sor the Paris success in 1925, in which they were aided by
artists srom the Rhythm Association (est. 1922), including many Formists (sig. 1, 2, 3).
Julisz Starzynski, one of the sirst researchers into the period, wrote in his book Droga przez
pölwiecze, o Polsce lat 1918-1968 (The way through Hals a Century. On Poland os 1918-1968): ,,In
a search sor the ’golden mean’ between the different tendencies assecting the intellectual lise os
a society united not without pain, the young state sponsor turned towards a team cultivating mainly
the ideology os a national style on the basis os the experince os the Cracow Workshops. As a result,
there was nQ need to becom too involved with the ideological criticism os painting and sculpture. At
the same time, the state sponsor could rely on a team os artists persectly prepared sor tasks to which
the state must be expecially sensitive. In those years there was probably no other place in Europe
where could be sound a group os such superb people, such exellent artists capable os persorming
responsible tasks vital to every nation, every government, and especially to that of a state newly
created aster so many years os accupation and anxious to present itsels worthily in a national sorum as
soon as possible”.5 The ossicial support for this peculiar orientation os artists, the sponsorship os the
state, and the variety os commissions had various essects. The development os Art Deco in the 1920s,
and hence the parallelism os the Polisch and European quest, an insrequent phenomenon in Polish
art, is worth chalking up on the prosit side.
Thanks to state commissions, artists were able not only to design but also to put their designs into
efsect. This meant not only the exhibits prepared for the 1925 Exhibition in Paris and other, smaller,
shows abroad but also largescale architectural and decorative projects and interior designs at home.
As a result, both an intimate and prestigious variations could be worked out. The two variations
added up to a coherent whole permeated with an expression os optimism and elegance, not devoid os
wayward primitivism. ,
The participation os artists os that generation in various organizational bodies and advisory and
evaluating committees, their appointment to chairs at universities and rectorships os art colleges, was
responsible sor the considerable insluence they had on the development os the trend. All this also
accounted sor its prestigious position and the rapid popularization os the ’’fashionable” modernity
generally identisied with Art Deco style. '
Despite the quite considerable achievements and the sairly general approval, the attitude adopted
and the state support it enjoyed had also unsavourable essects. The ossicial applause weakened the
sighting strength and polemical passion os the privileged and prompted attacks srom antagonists.
13
distinctness which was the aspiration of Polisch art even back in the 19th century. The recovery and
consolidation os independence coincided with the crystallisation os Art Deco tendencies. Thanks to
this coincidence the new style could aspire to being national, as a result os which it was sanctioned as
the new state’s representative style. Aster ?he war, the ambiton to work out a programme os
contemporary genuinely Polish art had a difserent motivation from that prevailing during the
partition period. It was no longer a matter os sustaining Polishness endangered by denationalization,
and no longer a matter os proving the nation’s ethnic and cultural unity to itsels and the world. The
demonstration os the society’s vital sorce and aspirations became the main motive. Polish artists felt
they had to join the mainstream of European culture as an equal partner, sinding support in the native
tradition.
This is why in part the new style had native ancestors. Emphasis was laid on links with the solk art
practised in various regions os the country, hence the activity os Polska Sztuka Stosowana (Society sor
Polish Applied Art, est. 1901) and its successor Warsztaty Krakowskie (Cracow Workshops
Association, est. 1913) was continued. Members os both these groups were largely the creators os the
Polish variation os Art Deco responsible sor the Paris success in 1925, in which they were aided by
artists srom the Rhythm Association (est. 1922), including many Formists (sig. 1, 2, 3).
Julisz Starzynski, one of the sirst researchers into the period, wrote in his book Droga przez
pölwiecze, o Polsce lat 1918-1968 (The way through Hals a Century. On Poland os 1918-1968): ,,In
a search sor the ’golden mean’ between the different tendencies assecting the intellectual lise os
a society united not without pain, the young state sponsor turned towards a team cultivating mainly
the ideology os a national style on the basis os the experince os the Cracow Workshops. As a result,
there was nQ need to becom too involved with the ideological criticism os painting and sculpture. At
the same time, the state sponsor could rely on a team os artists persectly prepared sor tasks to which
the state must be expecially sensitive. In those years there was probably no other place in Europe
where could be sound a group os such superb people, such exellent artists capable os persorming
responsible tasks vital to every nation, every government, and especially to that of a state newly
created aster so many years os accupation and anxious to present itsels worthily in a national sorum as
soon as possible”.5 The ossicial support for this peculiar orientation os artists, the sponsorship os the
state, and the variety os commissions had various essects. The development os Art Deco in the 1920s,
and hence the parallelism os the Polisch and European quest, an insrequent phenomenon in Polish
art, is worth chalking up on the prosit side.
Thanks to state commissions, artists were able not only to design but also to put their designs into
efsect. This meant not only the exhibits prepared for the 1925 Exhibition in Paris and other, smaller,
shows abroad but also largescale architectural and decorative projects and interior designs at home.
As a result, both an intimate and prestigious variations could be worked out. The two variations
added up to a coherent whole permeated with an expression os optimism and elegance, not devoid os
wayward primitivism. ,
The participation os artists os that generation in various organizational bodies and advisory and
evaluating committees, their appointment to chairs at universities and rectorships os art colleges, was
responsible sor the considerable insluence they had on the development os the trend. All this also
accounted sor its prestigious position and the rapid popularization os the ’’fashionable” modernity
generally identisied with Art Deco style. '
Despite the quite considerable achievements and the sairly general approval, the attitude adopted
and the state support it enjoyed had also unsavourable essects. The ossicial applause weakened the
sighting strength and polemical passion os the privileged and prompted attacks srom antagonists.
13