Lidia Głuchowska

The Multifaced Image of the Polish Idiom(s) of Cubism and Links of the ‘Poznań Expressionists’ to the Czech Artistic Scene

Until recent times international researchers perceived Polish art as practically untouched by Cubism. In fact, the affinity towards this style in Poland was remarkable. It is apparent not only among the members of École de Paris and the future members of the Formists group, who until 1919 called themselves Polish Expressionists, but also among more radical future members of Bunt (Rebellion) as well as for example Yung Yiddish circle, some of whom early became directly familiar with this style in Paris. There were also post-Cubist emanation in Polish arts, such as Purism and Art Déco, which became Polish national style. In fact, early Polish (and Central-Eastern European) Modernism was hybrid — Cubo-Expressionist with Dada-Futurist components. Only at the turn of 1919 and 1920 Cubism in Polish art started to function as opposition to Expressionism. One of the most important gaps in national and international research on Cubism concerns the Bunt group associated with the magazine Zdrój usually referred to as the ‘Poznan Expressionists’. Particularly noteworthy are geometrical, Cubist or Cubo-Expressionist linocuts on the verge of figuration and abstraction, which first appeared in the works of Stanisław Kubicki. They mostly resemble the art prints by Czech artists (Josef Čapek, Vlastislav Hoffman, Otakar Kubín). On examining them more thoroughly, however, they seem to be just a result of the osmosis of similar tendencies of New Art, e.g. the reception of Cubism via Expressionism, applying of the same media, and, perhaps, in both cases reinterpretation of folk art. On the other side, there are several indications that personal links existed between Czech and Polish artists. There even existed plans for a joint exhibition of Bunt, Formists and Czech artists, and for the publication of Bunt’s special issue in Prague. These venues never materialized, probably due to the changing political situation around the end of the WW I. Why there is so little known about this network and the links between Polish and Czech artists in general? More detailed analysis of their ties is a challenge of the horizontal art history.

Author's email:

l.gluchowska@isw.uz.zgora.pl

DOI: HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.54759/ART-2024-0303

Full-text in the Digital Library of the Czech Academy of Sciences:
https://kramerius.lib.cas.cz/uuid/uuid:2db959e5-39bd-4d8d-9fa8-19cbc6f7993a

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