DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.23631#0089
MINOR ARTS IN 20TH CENTURY POLAND
The 20th century found Poland divided between three partitioning powers, torn apart both in the national
and social sense. Soon however, the situation was to change radically. The eighty years of this century,
a period hardly longer than the average span of a human life, saw events of fundamental historical
importance and witnessed processes which destroyed existing political, social and economic structures
and introduced entirely new systems.
In 1918, Poland regained her long awaited independence, for which she had paid tribute of blood
on countless fields of battle of the Great War and later in national uprisings in Great Poland and Silesia.
In the twenty years which preceded the outbreak of the Second World War, despite social and political
conflicts, no effort was spared to re-establish unity of the nation and state, rebuild the economy and
develop culture. Many successes were achieved but all this was interrupted by the outbreak of the Second
World War and the Nazi occupation. Liberated in 1945 within new frontiers, Poland became an
ethnically homogeneous state with a socialist system of government and set about rebuilding the country
once again. Nationalization and industrialization, the two most important features of the changes taking
place, exercised a radical influence on crafts and craftsmanship, their status and general position.
Artistic crafts emerged from the general crisis in which they found themselves in the latter half of the
19th century, thanks to the skill and devoted efforts of many prominent individuals and to general condi-
tions prevailing at the time. As early as the second half of the 19th century voices were heard about the
destructive effects of industrial production which is cheap and cosmopolitan, aims at easy profit and preys
on patriotic sentiments, current notions and artistic fashions. In the 20th century the understanding of
the necessity of change in this field became widespread. Attempts were made to revive craftsmanship
by drawing inspiration from folk art. Hopes were set on positive results of reform in the educational system
and industrial training and on an upsurge of interest in craftsmanship on the part of artists educated in
specialistic colleges. Throughout that period, craftsmanship developed within four different organizational
systems: in traditional workshops which were in fact a continuation of guild organizations, though their
status and methods of work and purposes kept changing; in cooperatives, which were first formed by folk
artists in the 19th century; and by individual artists working on their own. The function of artistic
craftsmanship also underwent important evolution. It was in this respect that the 20th century brought
most significant change: the highest quality objects of craftsmanship no longer served exclusively
the needs of the private consumer; they were becoming collectors1 pieces shown at exhibitions and displays,
and sought after by museums. At the same time objects produced by folk artists and cooperatives increasingly
often found their way to private homes. As in the late 19th century, industrial production of goods which
were traditionally the preserve of craftsmanship, represented the principal and growing threat to crafts
in general.
The Young Poland movement which encompassed the period between 1890 and 1914, had great
significance for the history of Polish craftsmanship. Most conspicuously apparent in Galicia,
especially Cracow and Zakopane, this movement embraced various spheres of social and cultural life,
from philosophy to politics, and every domain of art, including artistic craftsmanship, which in the meantime
came to be known as applied art. There was a deep conviction that real art should penetrate every human
product threatened by mechanization. Obviously, this was a continuation of the ideas advanced by Ruskin
and Morris in Britain, by Semper in Germany, and Charles Blanc in France. In fact Poles had their
own proponents of these theories. The great poet Cyprian Kamil Norwid (1821 — 83), in his poem
Fromethidion written in 18 51, expounds a philosophy of work, of human labour linked inseparably
The 20th century found Poland divided between three partitioning powers, torn apart both in the national
and social sense. Soon however, the situation was to change radically. The eighty years of this century,
a period hardly longer than the average span of a human life, saw events of fundamental historical
importance and witnessed processes which destroyed existing political, social and economic structures
and introduced entirely new systems.
In 1918, Poland regained her long awaited independence, for which she had paid tribute of blood
on countless fields of battle of the Great War and later in national uprisings in Great Poland and Silesia.
In the twenty years which preceded the outbreak of the Second World War, despite social and political
conflicts, no effort was spared to re-establish unity of the nation and state, rebuild the economy and
develop culture. Many successes were achieved but all this was interrupted by the outbreak of the Second
World War and the Nazi occupation. Liberated in 1945 within new frontiers, Poland became an
ethnically homogeneous state with a socialist system of government and set about rebuilding the country
once again. Nationalization and industrialization, the two most important features of the changes taking
place, exercised a radical influence on crafts and craftsmanship, their status and general position.
Artistic crafts emerged from the general crisis in which they found themselves in the latter half of the
19th century, thanks to the skill and devoted efforts of many prominent individuals and to general condi-
tions prevailing at the time. As early as the second half of the 19th century voices were heard about the
destructive effects of industrial production which is cheap and cosmopolitan, aims at easy profit and preys
on patriotic sentiments, current notions and artistic fashions. In the 20th century the understanding of
the necessity of change in this field became widespread. Attempts were made to revive craftsmanship
by drawing inspiration from folk art. Hopes were set on positive results of reform in the educational system
and industrial training and on an upsurge of interest in craftsmanship on the part of artists educated in
specialistic colleges. Throughout that period, craftsmanship developed within four different organizational
systems: in traditional workshops which were in fact a continuation of guild organizations, though their
status and methods of work and purposes kept changing; in cooperatives, which were first formed by folk
artists in the 19th century; and by individual artists working on their own. The function of artistic
craftsmanship also underwent important evolution. It was in this respect that the 20th century brought
most significant change: the highest quality objects of craftsmanship no longer served exclusively
the needs of the private consumer; they were becoming collectors1 pieces shown at exhibitions and displays,
and sought after by museums. At the same time objects produced by folk artists and cooperatives increasingly
often found their way to private homes. As in the late 19th century, industrial production of goods which
were traditionally the preserve of craftsmanship, represented the principal and growing threat to crafts
in general.
The Young Poland movement which encompassed the period between 1890 and 1914, had great
significance for the history of Polish craftsmanship. Most conspicuously apparent in Galicia,
especially Cracow and Zakopane, this movement embraced various spheres of social and cultural life,
from philosophy to politics, and every domain of art, including artistic craftsmanship, which in the meantime
came to be known as applied art. There was a deep conviction that real art should penetrate every human
product threatened by mechanization. Obviously, this was a continuation of the ideas advanced by Ruskin
and Morris in Britain, by Semper in Germany, and Charles Blanc in France. In fact Poles had their
own proponents of these theories. The great poet Cyprian Kamil Norwid (1821 — 83), in his poem
Fromethidion written in 18 51, expounds a philosophy of work, of human labour linked inseparably