Henryk Stażewski, RELIEF NO. 31, 1974

65.0 x 65.0 cm - acrylic, ink, fiberboard, wood signed on the reverse l.g.: nr. 31-1974 | H. Stażewski

Provenance:

Collection of art historian Teresa Sowinska (1940-2023), author of many publications and exhibitions, professionally associated with the Warsaw "Zachêta".



Image exhibited, described and reproduced:

- Henryk Stażewski, Paintings from 1923-1974, BWA Łódź, Art Propaganda Center, 26 July - 18 August 1974, cat. 108, ill. black and white, p. nlb.



The painting on display comes from a series of line paintings begun in 1974, which, as Bozena Kowalska wrote, took its origin, like Mondrian's famous tree, from nature. The first works in the series, with complicated arrangements of lines-wider and narrower, crossing diagonally, building lines of tension-were reflections of the disorder of Kazimierz's gardens overgrown with tangled bushes and weeds, decaying fences and lush thickets. This commonly prevailing disorder was reduced by the artist at the very beginning of the drawing cycle to a relative orderliness that stood halfway between the unrestrained chaos of nature and the balance of the almost perfect order of Stażewski's paintings. As the cycle grows, order also grows. The compositions become more and more simplified, the disheveled bundles of slanting lines calm down into streaks of straight lines parallel to each other: there is less and less dynamism and restlessness in them, their variety and number decrease, their directional tensions diminish. Everything to 1976 calms down, organizes and limits. (Bożena Kowalska, Henryk Stażewski, Arkady, Warsaw 1985, pp. 36-37)

Compositional issues related to the operation of lines in a painting, developed in the compositions of the 1970s, appeared in Stażewski's theoretical considerations much earlier. As early as 1933, he wrote: A line is not only a boundary between one object and another, or between the subject and the background, but also has its own independent meaning - it can evoke in us a physiological and emotional reaction. For example, certain lines cause dynamic excitement (l. irregular curves, broken lines) - others arouse feelings of calm (straight lines, curves). In addition, an important role is played by the line as an element of the construction of the picture. The line in the picture is an expression of directional tension. The balance of the image is obtained by such containment and closure of the linear directional tension, so that it does not fly out of the picture. There are as many systems of linear image construction as there are styles and directions of painting. (Henryk Stażewski, New art a legacy of art of bygone eras, Pion, 1933, no. 5, p. 4)



♣ An additional fee will be added to the Purchase Price based on the right of the creator 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, in turn: "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 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 regarded 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.