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he Muse um of Mode rn r twest 53 Street New York N.Y. 1001 9 Tel. 956-61 00 Cable: Modernart N O . 6

F O R . IMMEDIATE RELEASE

C O N S T R U C T I V I S M IN POLAND 1923-1936 AT T HE M U S E U M O F MODERN A R T

The l i t t l e -known work o f t h e m a j o r P o l i s h a r t i s t s w h o w o r k e d i n t h e c o n s t r u c -

t ivis t t r ad i t ion i s o n v i ew fo r t h e fi r s t t ime in t h i s c o u n t r y i n a n e x h i b i t i o n a t

The Museum o f Modern A r t t h rough March 25 . D i rec t ed b y K y n a s to n M c S h i n e , C u r a t o r

of Paint ing a n d S c u l p t u r e , t h e e x h i b i t i o n i s j o in t ly sponsored b y t h e A l b r i g h t - K n o x A r t

Gal le ry in Buffalo a n d i s shown under t h e a u s p i c e s o f t h e Museum' s In t e rna t iona l Coun

c i l . Af t e r t h e N e w Yo r k s h o w i n g , i t wi l l t ravel t o t h e A r t I n s t i t u t e o f C h i c a g o a n d

t he De t ro i t In s t i t u t e o f A r t s , a s wel l a s Bu ffa lo .

C o n s t r u c t i v i s m i n Po land 1923-1936 con ta i ns more than 5 0 e x a m p l e s o f s c u l p t u r e ,

p a i n t i n g , p h o t o g r a p h y, a n d g r a p h i c d e s i g n , w h i c h r e p r e s e n t a n i m po r t a n t m o m e n t in

t he h i s to ry o f m o d e r n a r t . T h e fi ve a r t i s t s r ep resen ted h a d s t rong t i e s wi th t h e

a v a n t - g a r d e o f Russ i a a n d E u r o p e . A l t h o u g h a g rea t deal o f t h e i r w o r k w a s d e s t r o y e d

in World W a r I I , t h e m a j o r i t y o f w h a t h a s been p rese rved i s i n t h e co l l ec t ion o f

t he Museum Sz tuk i i n L o d z , P o l a n d , w h i c h h a s l en t a l l t h e w o r k s fo r t h e e x h i b i t i o n .

T h e m a j o r i t y o f t h e w o r k s o n v i e w a r e b y Katarzy na Kobro (1898-1951) a nd h e r

husband Wladys law S t rzeminsk i ( 1893-1952) . Kobro i s r ep resen ted b y m o r e t h an a

dozen compos i t ions a n d c o n s t r u c t i o n s o f m e t a l , w o o d , p l as t i c a n d g l a s s , a n d

St rzeminsk i b y 15 o i l p a i n t i n g s , a r c h i te c t u r al a n d u n i s t i c c o m p o s i t i o n s . A l s o i n

cluded a r e t e n pho tographs , ca l l ed he l iog raph ic compos i t io ns ,by Karo l H i l l e r (1891-

1 9 3 9 , t h r e e o i l pa in t ings b y Henryk Stazews ki ( b . 1 8 9 4 , a n d o n e by Henryk Ber lewi

(1894-1967) . A l so shown a r e e x a m p l e s o f b o o k s , p a m p h l e t s a n d magaz i nes des igned

by t h e P o l i sh c o n s t r u c t i v i s t s , i n c l u d i ng t h e i r o w n p e r i o d i c a l s , b e g i n n i n g w i t h t h e

m a g a z i n e B l o k .

Kobro a n d S t r zeminsk i m e t i n Russ i a where they were a s soc ia t ed wi t h va r ious

Russ i an cons t ruc t iv i s t g roups a n d k n e w R o d c h e n k o , E l L i s s i t z k y, a n d M a l e v i c h , a m o ng

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others . They moved to Vi lna in 1922 and in 1924 became Pol i sh c i t i zen s . In the

20s they were assoc ia ted wi th success ive Po l i sh g roups , such as the Blok and the

P r a e s e n s . T h e l a t t e r g r o u p , c o n s i st i n g o f p a i n t e r s , s c u l p t o r s an d a r c h i t e c t s ,

was main ly c oncerned wi th the re la t ionsh ip be tween a rch i te c tu re and the o ther v isua l

ar t s .

In the ea r ly 20s Kobro made scu lp tu r e accord ing to mathemat ica l r a t ios and

d e v e lo p e d a s c u l p t u r e c o n si s t i n g o f o p e n p l a n e s . S h e d i s c a r d e d t h e i d ea o f s c u l p t u r e

a s a n i s o l a t e d f o r m o r o b j e c t , a n d b e l i e v e d s c u l p t u r e s h o u l d b e c o n c e r n e d w i t h

s pa ti al c o n c e p t s . S h e w r o t e , A n y s c u l p t u r e s h o ul d b e co m e a n a r c h i t e ct u r a l p r o b l e m . . .

it shou ld be an express ion o f a t t empts a imed a t super ind iv idua l i s t i c o rga n iza t ions

o f s o c i e t y.

S t r z e m i n s k i ' s w o r k s o f t h e 2 0 s , ca l l e d a r c h i t e c tu r a l c o m p o s i t i o n s , a r e f l a t ,

abs t rac t , geomet r i c pa in t in gs irt b r igh t co lo rs . They con t ras t sharp l y wi th h i s

l a t er u n i s ti c c o m p o s i t i o n s , s e ve n o f w h ic h a r e o n v i e w. T h e s e p a i n t i n g s a r e in

s u b tl e c o l o r m o d u l a t i o n s , th e c a n v a s e s r h y t h m i c a l l y f i l l ed w i t h r e p e a te d s ma ll

f o r m s a n d w a v i n g l i n e s w h i c h a r e h i g h l y t e x t u r e d . L i k e h i s w i f e , in a d d it i o n t o

b e in g a n a r t i s t , S t r z e m i n sk i w a s a t h e o r i s t , w r i t e r, . te a ch e r, a nd o rg a n i z e r o f

e x h i b i t i o n s a n d s c h o o l s .

Karol Hi H e r , w h o m a d e p h o t o g r a p h s w it h o u t a camera , w h i c h h e t e r m e d h e l l o -

g r a p h i c c o m p o s i t i o n s , w a s b o r n in L o d z i n 1 8 91 a n d w a s k i l l e d t h e r e 1 n 1 9 3 9 , o n e

of the f i r s t v ic t ims o f the Naz i t e r ro r . He s tud ied a rch i tec tu r e 1n Warsa w and

w h e n Wo r l d Wa r I b e g a n , h e a n d t h e e n t i r e s c ho o l w e r e e v a c u a t e d t o R u s s i a w h e r e h e

s t ud i e d a r t h i s t o r y an d b e c a m e a c q u a in t e d w i t h R u ss i a n c o n s t r u c t i v i s m . A f t e r t h e

w a r, b a c k 1 n P o l a n d , h e b e c a m e I n v o l ve d in s t a g e d e s i g n , b o o k I l l u s t r a t i o n , a n d

p a i n t i n g . M o s t o f hi s p a i n t i n g s w e r e d e s t r o y e d 1 n Wo r l d Wa r I I . I n 1 9 2 8 , h e b e g a n

w o r k o n th e gr a p h i c te c h n i q u e he c al l e d h e H o g r a p h y .

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Hi Tier ' s technique w a s d i fferent from that pract iced b y M an R ay o r M o h o l y - N a g y.

His neg at ive w a s a t r anspa ren t ce l lu lo id p la t e covered wi th whi t e t empera which

allowed fo r var io us ar t is t ic effects p a i n t i n g , s c r u b b i n g , a n d g r ind ing o f p a i n t .

The final print w a s m a d e o n pho to - sens i t ive paper b y exposure t o l i g h t . Hi H e r s ai d

of t h e p roc ess , . . .I wan ted , wi thou t imi ta t ing t h e v isual phenomena in n a t u r e , t o

create t h e sources from which they de r ive d i rec t ly o n a p l a t e .

Henryk Stazewski i s t h e on ly a r t i s t o f t h e five s t il l l iv in g. He g radua ted

from t h e School o f Fine Arts i n Warsaw in 1920 a n d a s a s tuden t v i s i t ed Pa r i s wh ere

he w a s influenc ed by Cubism a n d Pur ism. Between 1929 a n d 19 3 4 h e v i s i t ed Pa r i s

several t imes a n d became close fr iends wi t h Mondria n a n d Seuphor. Al though t h e

major i ty o f h i s work before 1939 w a s d e s t r o y e d , i t w a s h i s fr iendsh ips i n Pa r i s

that s t imulated t h e format ion o f t h e co l l ec t ion o f modern a r t a n d Po l i sh cons t ruc

tivism fo r t h e Museum in L o d z .

T h e M us e u m S z t u k i , i n add i t ion t o i t s col lect ion o f Po l ish cons t ruc t iv i sm, con

tains t h e in ternat ional col lect ion o f modern a r t formed b y t h e a . r. group (ar t is tes

r e v o l u t i o n n a i r e s ) , K o b r o , S t a z e w s k i , an d S t r z e m i n s k i , i n 1931. T h e co l l ec t ion o f

about 7 5 ob jec t s inc ludes works b y J e an A r p , v a n D o e s b u rg , L e g e r, M a r c o u s s i s ,

S c h w i t t e r s , S o p h i e Ta u e b e r - A r p , To r r e s - G a r c i a , a n d Va n t o n g e r l o o .

The N e w York showing h a s been made poss ib le th rough t h e gene ros i ty o f T h e G o v e r n

ment o f t h e Po l i sh Peop le ' s Repub l i c , Aspen Cen te r o f Con tempora ry A r t , a nd T h e

American Ins t i tu te o f Po l i sh Cu l tu re .

m mrnxj 1 0 9 1974

Addit ional press informat ion a v a i l a b l e f r o m E l i z a b e t h S h a w, D i r e c t o r, D e p a r t m e n t o fPubl ic In fo rmat ion , T h e M u s e u m o f M o d e r n A r t , 11 W. 53 S t . , N e w Yo r k , N Y 1 0 0 1 9

Phone : (212) 956 -7 501; 7 S 0 4 .