Henryk Stażewski, NR 34, 1972

60.0 x 60.0cm - acrylic, board signed on the reverse l.g.: no. 34-1972, middle g.: H. Stażewski



Provenance: collection of art historian Teresa Sowinska (1940-2023), author of many publications and exhibitions, professionally associated with "Zachêta" in Warsaw.



Image exhibited and described:

- Michał Bylina / Henryk Stażewski, Exhibition of works of the winners of the awards of the Minister of Culture and Art granted in 1977 for artistic work in the field of fine arts, CBWA Zachęta, Warsaw January 1978, cat. 1 (listed in the list of works).



Henryk Stażewski, called the "pope of the Polish avant-garde," developed the language of abstraction throughout his life. He made it a tool for the objective representation of the world. He wrote that: Abstract art is the most unified, holistic and organic vision of shapes and colors. It aims at the highest sensitivity of our eye, achieving "absolute hearing" of color sensitivity and mathematical precision in sensing form and proportion. Abstract art does not show the external aspect of matter, "object", however, it can keep in touch with the phenomena and concrete and objective facts of the external world, because it is the sum of impressions and observations, it is a sense of the climate of modernity, an expression of the dynamism of today's life, a lyrical image of the era in which upheavals are taking place, caused by great social movements, inventions and discoveries, the era of the smashing of the atomic pile and so on. All of this is causing fundamental changes in the nature of our lives and must find resonance in art and create new means of artistic expression. (Stażewski, in Michał Bylina / Henryk Stażewski, Warsaw January 1978 pp. nlb.)



♣ An additional fee will be added to the Purchase Price resulting from the right of the artist and his heirs to receive remuneration in accordance with the Law of February 4, 1994 - on Copyright and Related Rights (droit de suite).



Henryk Stażewski (Warsaw, January 9, 1894 - Warsaw, June 10, 1988) studied at the School of Fine Arts in Warsaw from 1913 to 1920. At the beginning of his career, he painted still lifes. He temporarily exhibited with the "Formists" grouping (1922). He also took part in the Exhibition of New Art in Vilna in 1923. From that time on he worked under the influence of constructivism. In addition to painting compositions, he also worked in book graphics, designed interiors, furnishings and stage designs - these were mostly theoretical and studio works. Polish and international avant-garde groups, with which he exhibited and collaborated as a publicist, were as follows: "Blok" (1924-1926), "Praesens" (1926-1930), "Cercle et Carré" (1929-1931), "Abstraction-Création" (1931-1939), "a. r." (1932-1939). He also belonged to the Circle of Advertising Graphic Artists (1933-1939). In 1930 he was a co-organizer of a collection of works by artists of the international avant-garde intended for the Lodz museum (now in the Museum of Art in Lodz). After World War II, he lived and worked in Warsaw. In the 1940s and 1950s, he made attempts to adapt to the demands of figurative art. From this period come drawing and painting compositions on the themes of labor, construction, as well as monumental projects. After 1956, widely recognized as the patron saint of the Polish avant-garde, he already practiced exclusively abstraction of Constructivist origin. He created cycles of works that were studies of planes, lines, colors in various arrangements in relation to each other. With the appearance of cool perfection, he knew how to imbue them with the emotion of a direct touch, the trace of a hand. In addition to painting and derivative forms, such as collages, reliefs, multiples, he created spatial forms and graphics (he authorized serigraphic replicas of his works). He was the recipient of many national and international awards and honors, including the Herder Prize, Vienna 1972.