Andrew STOPKA (1904 - 1973), Archangel I, 1968

pencil, gouache, paper; 25 x 11 cm (framed, passe-partout), 42.5 x 35 cm (framed, frame); inscribed l. d. (illegible); described on passe-partout under the drawing: "DZIADY" - A. MICKIEWICZ / THE ARCHANIOUS COSTUME I / PROJECT ANDRZEJA STOPKA / 1968.

Andrzej Stopka - set designer, painter, graphic designer. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow in 1931. Since 1945, he was associated with the theater, as a stage designer. In the 1960s, he created his best works for productions directed by Kazimierz Dejmek, including the famous staging of Mickiewicz's Dziady (Forefathers' Eve) (1967) , whose removal from the stage was the spark for a widespread protest by Warsaw University students. This performance, planned as an event associated with the anniversary of the October Revolution, became a major patriotic demonstration. "The Great Improvisation," performed by Gustav Holoubek, became a manifesto directed against the regime and dependence on the USSR. Aware of this, the authorities issued a decree to remove the play from the stage - the last performance took place on January 30, 1968 in Warsaw.