DOI article:
Puzio, Maksymilian: Wilhelma Wachtla "Pożegnanie z Golusem"
Citation link:https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/modus2020/0277
centuries - dispersion and living abroad. Although the artist showed some scenes
not without sentiment, the strongest chord of the collection were the works that
left no illusions about the despair of such existence - the hopelessness that must
lead towards tragedy. Therefore - because this is how the artists message should
be understood - the only solution for Jewish youth is to emigrate to Palestine.”82
However, the artist himself should also be given voice - as he mentions in the in-
troduction to the collection, it was the education he received that shaped his life.
Thanks to his father, he had an ingrained pride in his own Jewish identity, which,
as he himself wrote, determined the spiritual direction of his work. He summed
it up as follows: “It [the collection - M.P.] consists of a series of pictures reflect-
ing the State of my soul before seeing Palestine for the first time. In the autumn
of my life, I want to pitch a tent in the Land of our Fathers, in the Land, which
gives me fresh strength and the joy of creation [...]. Let this portfolio remain
the document of the times: while we were still in Golus”83 (see: Fig. i). These
words inform the complicated content of the graphics, and the great sentiment
and attachment to Jewishness most definitely contradict the unequivocal thesis
about the complete rejection of the diaspora by Wachtel. This is also confirmed
by the words of Szymon Spund, who writes about the “return to the brethren”
by the painter who “listens with the most heartfelt tenderness to the pains and
sufferings of those who are his hope and pride, and who now lack the strength
and breath for further fruitless awakening of the conscience - of the world and
the people.”84
The graphics from the collection of the Museum of the Borderlands in Lu-
baczów (inventory no. ML/1061A/1-114) presented later in the work are a gift from
the Kozłówka Pałace Museum85 of 26 June 1986.86 The object consists of 14 litho-
graphs (see: Figs. 3-16) and additional 2 plates with the artists introduction
(see: Fig. 1) and the list of plates (see: Fig. 2) (inventory no. ML/A/1740). To datę,
the portfolio has not undergone any conservation work, and individual items
are in varying State of preservation. The paper is yellowed, the corners are torn,
and some plates have visible tears and defects. The Self-portrait is in the worst
condition, with about % of the sheet missing. The lithographs are discussed in
the order corresponding to the list of plates attached to the portfolio.87 First and
foremost, it was the content of the works that was analysed, being the essence
of the entire collection.
We should also point out that some of the discussed lithographs have their
counterparts in paintings, madę several years before the entire lithographic cy-
cle. The previously mentioned work, The Homeless, in oil on canvas, also known
as The Wanderers, dates from around 1916 and shows the situation of Jews after
1. Wilhelm Wachtel,
introductory piąte, ca. 1935,
Museum of the Borderlands
in Lubaczów, inventory
no. ml/a/1740. Photo after:
<https://tinyurl.com/
n879x7re>
a see p. 249
2. Wilhelm Wachtel, The
order of plates, ca. 1935,
Museum of the Borderlands
in Lubaczów, inventory
no. ml/a/1740. Photo after:
<https://tinyurl.com/
n879x7re>
a see p. 249
82 N. Styrna, Zrzeszenie Żydowskich Artystów, p. 153.
83 W. Wachtel, introductory piąte, ca. 1935, lithograph, 59.5 x 43.5 cm, mkl, inventory no. ML/A/1740,
<http://judaika.polin.pl/dmuseion/docmetadata?id=6564&show_nav=true> (accessed on
25.04.2020).
84 Sz. Spund, Pożegnanie z Golusem. Ex re z teki Wilhelma Wachtla, “Chwila”, 6072,16 11 1936,
p.8.
85 Today, Muzeum Zamoyskich in Kozłówka.
86 Information provided by Dariusz Sałek of the Museum of the Borderlands in Lubaczów.
87 W. Wachtel, The order of plates, ca. 1935, lithograph, 59.5 x 43.5 cm, mkl, inventory no. ML/A/1740,
<http://judaika.polin.pl/dmuseion/docmetadata?id=6564&show_nav=true> (accessed on
25.04.2020).
Wilhelm Wachtel’s Farewell to Golus
277
not without sentiment, the strongest chord of the collection were the works that
left no illusions about the despair of such existence - the hopelessness that must
lead towards tragedy. Therefore - because this is how the artists message should
be understood - the only solution for Jewish youth is to emigrate to Palestine.”82
However, the artist himself should also be given voice - as he mentions in the in-
troduction to the collection, it was the education he received that shaped his life.
Thanks to his father, he had an ingrained pride in his own Jewish identity, which,
as he himself wrote, determined the spiritual direction of his work. He summed
it up as follows: “It [the collection - M.P.] consists of a series of pictures reflect-
ing the State of my soul before seeing Palestine for the first time. In the autumn
of my life, I want to pitch a tent in the Land of our Fathers, in the Land, which
gives me fresh strength and the joy of creation [...]. Let this portfolio remain
the document of the times: while we were still in Golus”83 (see: Fig. i). These
words inform the complicated content of the graphics, and the great sentiment
and attachment to Jewishness most definitely contradict the unequivocal thesis
about the complete rejection of the diaspora by Wachtel. This is also confirmed
by the words of Szymon Spund, who writes about the “return to the brethren”
by the painter who “listens with the most heartfelt tenderness to the pains and
sufferings of those who are his hope and pride, and who now lack the strength
and breath for further fruitless awakening of the conscience - of the world and
the people.”84
The graphics from the collection of the Museum of the Borderlands in Lu-
baczów (inventory no. ML/1061A/1-114) presented later in the work are a gift from
the Kozłówka Pałace Museum85 of 26 June 1986.86 The object consists of 14 litho-
graphs (see: Figs. 3-16) and additional 2 plates with the artists introduction
(see: Fig. 1) and the list of plates (see: Fig. 2) (inventory no. ML/A/1740). To datę,
the portfolio has not undergone any conservation work, and individual items
are in varying State of preservation. The paper is yellowed, the corners are torn,
and some plates have visible tears and defects. The Self-portrait is in the worst
condition, with about % of the sheet missing. The lithographs are discussed in
the order corresponding to the list of plates attached to the portfolio.87 First and
foremost, it was the content of the works that was analysed, being the essence
of the entire collection.
We should also point out that some of the discussed lithographs have their
counterparts in paintings, madę several years before the entire lithographic cy-
cle. The previously mentioned work, The Homeless, in oil on canvas, also known
as The Wanderers, dates from around 1916 and shows the situation of Jews after
1. Wilhelm Wachtel,
introductory piąte, ca. 1935,
Museum of the Borderlands
in Lubaczów, inventory
no. ml/a/1740. Photo after:
<https://tinyurl.com/
n879x7re>
a see p. 249
2. Wilhelm Wachtel, The
order of plates, ca. 1935,
Museum of the Borderlands
in Lubaczów, inventory
no. ml/a/1740. Photo after:
<https://tinyurl.com/
n879x7re>
a see p. 249
82 N. Styrna, Zrzeszenie Żydowskich Artystów, p. 153.
83 W. Wachtel, introductory piąte, ca. 1935, lithograph, 59.5 x 43.5 cm, mkl, inventory no. ML/A/1740,
<http://judaika.polin.pl/dmuseion/docmetadata?id=6564&show_nav=true> (accessed on
25.04.2020).
84 Sz. Spund, Pożegnanie z Golusem. Ex re z teki Wilhelma Wachtla, “Chwila”, 6072,16 11 1936,
p.8.
85 Today, Muzeum Zamoyskich in Kozłówka.
86 Information provided by Dariusz Sałek of the Museum of the Borderlands in Lubaczów.
87 W. Wachtel, The order of plates, ca. 1935, lithograph, 59.5 x 43.5 cm, mkl, inventory no. ML/A/1740,
<http://judaika.polin.pl/dmuseion/docmetadata?id=6564&show_nav=true> (accessed on
25.04.2020).
Wilhelm Wachtel’s Farewell to Golus
277