Władysław Strzemiński (21 November 1893 – 26 December 1952) was a Polish

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

painter of international renown.

Life and work

Strzemiński was born in

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

to an ethnic Polish family. In 1914, he graduated from the Military School of Civil Engineering. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he served as second lieutenant at the

Osowiec Fortress Osowiec Fortress ( Polish: ''Twierdza Osowiec'', Russian: ''Крепость Осовец'') is a 19th-century fortress built by the Russian Empire, located in what is now north-eastern Poland. It saw heavy fighting during World War I when i ...

. In 1915 he was severely wounded in the Attack of the Dead Men. In 1920 he married Katarzyna Kobro. In 1922 he moved to Wilno (now

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

), and in the following year supported Vytautas Kairiūkštis in creating the first

art exhibition in what is now the territory of Lithuania (then under Polish rule). In November 1923 he moved to

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, where with Henryk Berlewi he founded the constructivist group Blok. During the 1920s he formulated his theory of Unism (''Unizm'' in

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

). His paintings inspired the musical compositions of the Polish composer

Zygmunt Krauze Zygmunt Krauze (born September 19, 1938) is a Polish composer of contemporary classical music, educator, and pianist. Biography Zygmunt Krauze is an important artist of his generation: a respected composer, valued pianist, educator, organiser of ...

. He is an author of a revolutionary book titled "The theory of vision." He was co creator of unique avant-garde art collection in Łódź gathered together thanks to the enthusiasm of members of the “a.r.” group as Katarzyna Kobro and

Henryk Stażewski Henryk Stażewski (pronounced: ; 9 January 1894 – 10 June 1988) was a Polish Painting, painter, writer, and visual artist. Stażewski's career spanned seven decades and he is considered a pivotal figure in the history of Constructivism (art), ...

(the artists) and

Julian Przyboś Julian Przyboś (5 March 1901 – 6 October 1970) was a Polish poet, essayist and translator, one of the most important poets of the Kraków Avant-Garde. Life Przyboś was born in Gwoźnica near Strzyżów to a peasant family. From 1912, he ...

and Jan Brzękowski (the poets). In postwar Łódź he was an instructor at the Higher School of Plastic Arts and Design ''Neoplastic Room'' in

Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź Muzeum () is a Prague Metro station providing the interchange between Lines A and C, and serving the National Museum. It is located at the top end of Wenceslas Square. The Line C station was opened on 9 May 1974, with the first section of ...

, where one of his students was Halina Ołomucki, survivor of the Nazi

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...

s. His ''Neoplastic Room'' was installed in the

in 1948 but was removed in 1950 as it failed to fit in with the

socialist realism Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is c ...

aesthetic imposed by

Włodzimierz Sokorski Włodzimierz Sokorski (2 July 1908, Oleksandrivsk – 2 May 1999, Warsaw) was a Polish communist official, writer, military journalist and a brigadier general in the People's Republic of Poland. He was the Minister of Culture and Art responsible ...

, the minister of culture of the

Polish United Workers' Party The Polish United Workers' Party ( pl, Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza; ), commonly abbreviated to PZPR, was the communist party which ruled the Polish People's Republic as a one-party state from 1948 to 1989. The PZPR had led two other lega ...

. His works have been exhibited in such museums around the world as

Centre Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou ( en, National Georges Pompidou Centre of Art and Culture), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English, is a complex building in the Beaubourg area of ...

Museo Reina Sofia Museo may refer to: * Museo, 2018 Mexican drama heist film *Museo (Naples Metro) Museo is a station on line 1 of the Naples Metro. It was opened on 5 April 2001 as the eastern terminus of the section of the line between Vanvitelli and Museo. ...

Moderna Museet Malmö Moderna Museet Malmö is a museum of modern and contemporary art located in Malmö, Sweden. It is a part of the state-owned Moderna Museet Moderna Museet ("the Museum of Modern Art"), Stockholm, Sweden, is a state museum for modern and co ...

and

Whitechapel Gallery The Whitechapel Gallery is a public art gallery in Whitechapel on the north side of Whitechapel High Street, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The original building, designed by Charles Harrison Townsend, opened in 1901 as one of the fir ...

In film

He is the subject of ''

Afterimage AfterImage is a Filipino rock band formed in 1986, best known for their songs "Habang May Buhay", "Next in Line", and "Mangarap Ka". They disbanded in 1997 and became active again in 2008 after they reunited and released their fourth studio alb ...

'' (2016), the final film by

Andrzej Wajda Andrzej Witold Wajda (; 6 March 1926 – 9 October 2016) was a Polish film and theatre director. Recipient of an Honorary Oscar, the Palme d'Or, as well as Honorary Golden Lion and Honorary Golden Bear Awards, he was a prominent member of the ...

References

Bibliography

# ''Władysław Strzemiński. Readability of Images''. Proceedings of the international conference devoted to the work of Władysław Strzemiński, 13–14 October 2011, Muzeum Sztuki, Łódź 2015. # ''Władysław Strzemiński 1893–1952. On the 100th Anniversary of His Birth'', Muzeum Sztuki w Łodzi, Łódź 1993.

Life and work

In film

References

Bibliography

See also