[LASZCZKA Konstanty - letters, photographs]. Collection of materials relating directly to Konstanty Laszczka, including 43 letters....

[LASZCZKA Konstanty - letters, photographs]. A collection of materials relating directly to Konstanty Laszczka, including 43 letters from the artist, family photographs, reproductions of works, manuscripts, and newspaper clippings.
The collection includes:
Letters and correspondence cards of the artist from 1950-1956 (he was then 85-91 years old), written from Cracow to Stanisława Ciemniewska in Mława, and letters of his daughter Jadwiga Wierzbiańska to the same addressee. The first letters are written by K. Laszczka's hand, with time (in 1952) the writing becomes indistinct ("I am blind and my handwriting is difficult to read" (May 8, 1952)). Since 1953, letters are initially written by the secretary and the daughter, the artist only signed them, later the daughter reported on her father's actions or wrote on his behalf. After the sculptor's death, the daughter continued to exchange correspondence - 3 of her letters have survived in the collection. In the first letters, Laszczka informs about her family situation, health, recalls the times of her youth and common friends. In one of his later letters (March 17, 1952) he gives a summary of his artistic achievements. There he writes: "About 180 poems were lost to a publisher whose plant was completely destroyed." He devotes a few words of reminiscence to Lucjan Rydel, Leon Schiller, Leon Wyczółkowski, Julian Fałat - "but all this is gone, passed like a dream" (April 7, 1954). The correspondence shows the author's interest in the spirit world, chiromancy, graphology and telepathy. In the letters he cites his poems: "Above the Osownica", "Time", "Sculptor", "Flight of the Spirit". Excerpts from the letters: "My whole life [...] has been to work for my neighbors, and this is how it continues to this day. I am advancing along a steep road strewn with boulders and thorns, in the dark to the finish line assigned to me by God" (November 24, 1951); "In my family the children and the elderly are still ill. I myself cling like a fish thrown out of the water onto the sand - tossing in all directions, slower and slower until I fall asleep" (10 I 1952); "I can no longer paint or sculpt" (15 IV 1953); "I have no oil paintings, nor watercolors or pastels, because I have not painted for 30 years, and what I had was all taken away from me by people" (21 I 1954). From his daughter's letters: "It must be said with pain in the heart that now every month reflects negatively on Father's strength and health - he is very weak, sleeps a lot and takes little interest in the affairs of life" (21 II 1956); after the artist's death: "It is a sad consolation to know that Father has lately kept talking about death and wishing for it" (April 6, 1956). Her extensive six-page letter contains a detailed description of the artist's last hours (June 15, 1956).
The remaining objects were probably attachments to the letters described above.
Eight texts by K. Laszczka, including 7 poems (2 manuscript ("Poseidon" and" When the Sun Goes Down"), 1 typescript ("My Family Village") with a handwritten dedication dated 1951, 4 typescripts (including "The Sea", "To Polish Aviators" (in two copies)) and one prose fragment ("The Rise of the Linden Tree") with a handwritten dedication dated 1952.
Five photographs of postcard form. and smaller, two of which depict K. Laszczka, one photograph is a photo of a sculptural self-portrait of the artist (on all 3 dedications or his signature), on the others the artist with his son and daughters.
Seven postcard reproductions of sculptures by K. Laszczka.
Press clippings: texts by K. Laszczka from the 1920s and 1930s (including "Pogwary o sztuce i szkole", "Słów parę o rzeźbie i jej rozwoju"), two clippings about the anniversary in 1955, 3 clippings after the artist's death in 1956.
K. Laszczka (1865-1956) - sculptor, painter, graphic artist, professor and rector of the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow, co-founder of the Society of Polish Artists Art.