presents the

72nd Annual Fine Art Exhibition

August 3 - August 30, 2008

at

The Polish Museum of America

Featuring 83 works in various media from 29 artists

The Polish Arts Club welcomes as members individuals interested in its programs and activities.  For more information on membership, please contact
Alicia Dutka at (847) 382-6339.

The Polish Museum of America cordially invites you to view a selection of  Zofia Stryjenska’s works from The PMA collection.

Zofia Stryjeńska – Princess of Polish Painting

Zofia Stryjenska was one of the most acclaimed artists in Poland during the period between the two World Wars and a chief proponent of the Art Deco style prevalent at the time. She had a colorful personality–a woman of the avant-garde with a quick intelligence, a winning charm, and a sharp sense of humor. The press dubbed her the Princess of Polish Painting.

Stryjenska’s work is characterized by a lively temperament, a vibrant palette, confident draftsmanship, and a distinctive painting style evidenced in a creative interpretation of traditional Polish folkloric motifs, specifically those of the Zakopane region, which emphasized line and flat color areas. Her compositions are genre scenes–views of everyday life–incorporating strands of folk customs, legends, and Old Polish literature.

The collection of The Polish Museum of America has four paintings from the 1950s with a religious theme. Swiatoslaw Lenartowicz, the curator of the forthcoming monographic exhibition of Stryjenska’s work at the National Museum in Krakow, has deemed these paintings unique because of their subject matter, unusual for the artist. They will be reproduced and written about in the scholarly catalogue accompanying the exhibition. The paintings were owned by native-Chicagoan Bishop Alfred L. Abramowicz (1919-1999)–the first bishop of Polish descent in the Archdiocese–and were donated to the PMA by his Estate several years after his death. Bishop Abramowicz was fascinated with the region of Podhale (Polish Tatra Highlands); his liturgical vestments incorporated highlander motifs, perhaps explaining his interest in the work of Zofia Stryjenska.

In addition to the four paintings by the artist, the Museum has in its collection several of her portfolios from the 1930s among them we find: the hand-colored prints of Polish regional costumes, as well as six prints depicting Slavic sorcery. This latter group is noteworthy as it was part of the display at the Polish Pavilion at the New York World’s Fair held in 1939-40. After the outbreak of World War II, 11,000 objects from the Polish Pavilion were stranded in New York and a number of them found their way to the PMA. The Archives of the PMA hold photographs documenting the special exhibition held in Chicago of objects from the Pavilion. Works by Stryjenska are visible on the photos.

A multifaceted artist, Zofia Stryjenska née Lubanska (b. 1891 Krakow, Poland - d. 1965 Geneva, Switzerland) was a painter and muralist; a graphic artist; designer of textiles, stained glass, theatrical costumes, stage sets, and toys; as well as a book illustrator.

She studied in Krakow at various academies and studios. In 1911 she traveled to Munich, Germany. Since at that time no women were allowed to attend any of the officially sanctioned art academies, she decided to pose as a man, and proceeded to dress like one. She appropriated the passport of her brother and was among the 40 students admitted to the Munich Art Academy from a pool of 200 applicants.

In 1916 she married Karol Stryjenski (1887-1932), an architect, print-maker, sculptor, publicist, and professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. They had three children.

Stryjenska met with great success in the period following her marriage and the apogee of her career came in 1925 when she was awarded the Grand Prix at the seminal International Exposition of Modern Industrial and Decorative Arts in Paris. She belonged to the art movement known as Rytm–one of only three women who were associated with it; the other two were Maja Berezowska and Irena Pokrzywnicka–the latter is also represented in the art collection of the PMA.

For a number of years Stryjenska was among the most honored artists in Poland. In 1930 the Polish government bestowed on her its uppermost award, Polonia Restituta, and in 1936 the Polish Academy of Literature awarded her the Gold Academic Wreath. Her work sold at premier prices and she consistently participated in exhibitions internationally. She worked at a prodigious pace and was celebrated with awards in many countries, including the French Legion of Honor Cavalier’s Cross. In all of Europe there is no comparison for the Stryjenska phenomenon among women artists of the first half of the twentieth century.

Stryjenska’s colorful personal life is worth discovering and reading about; her biography is exceptionally stormy, filled with highs and lows. The Library at the PMA offers a monograph on her work, her autobiography, books on the subject of the art movement Rytm, as well as books on women artists active in the period between the World Wars. The Library also has volumes illustrated by Stryjenska: Koledy (Carols), 1926, and Obrzedy polskie (Polish Customs).

Works by Stryjenska were last on view at the PMA in the 1999-2000 exhibition Art Deco-Poland. The artist indisputably deserves a permanent presence in the PMA galleries. We invite you to view a selection of her works from the collection, which will be on display from May 2008 in the West stairwell of the Museum.

Monika Nowak