Distributed for Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw
Andrzej Wróblewski: Recto / Verso
One of Poland’s most important and independent postwar artists, Andrzej Wróblewski (1927–57) in his short life created his own highly individual, suggestive, and prolific form of abstract and figurative painting that continues to inspire artists today. This volume offers a stunning presentation and thorough re-evaluation of his work and its legacy in the international context of art history. Offering an insightful picture of the world of postwar painting in communist Europe, and highlighting Wróblewski’s political engagement, the book helps us to understand the immensely evocative vision of war and oppression that he created. This close look at a painter and a period that are of growing interest for international art historians will serve to further cement Wróblewski in the postwar pantheon.
Table of Contents
I.
Andrzej Wróblewski—Selected Works
II. Essays
Introduction: Starting from Scratch—Twice ~ Éric de Chassey
Squeezing “Modern Art” between Communism and Liberalism: The Art of Andrzej Wróblewski and Jean Hélion ~ Serge Guilbaut
Execution of Historical Painting: realism, Trauma and War ~ Kataryzna Bojarska
The Crippled Working Class: Wróblewski’s Socialist realism in Nowa Huta ~ Jérôme Bazin
Andrzej Wróblewski: Painting as Self-Criticism ~ Dorota Jarecka
When Steel Was Broken: On the Death of Stalin ~ Tom McDonough
Exhibition as Film: Exploring Andrzej Wróblewski’s Waiting Room Scenario ~ Lukasz Ronduda
Andrzej Wróblewski: A Work of Fragmentation ~ Ulrich Loock
Andrzej Wróblewski: An Inclusive Lyrical Construction, or the Lyricism of the Common ~ Jean-François Chevrier
The Pythagorean Trap ~ Anda Rottenberg
A Study in the Symbolic Imagination of a Postwar Artist: Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara and His Role in Andrzej Wróblewski’s Soteriology ~ Jan Michalski
III.
Andrzej Wróblewski: A Biography
List of Works and Photo Credits
Selected Bibliography
Andrzej Wróblewski—Selected Works
II. Essays
Introduction: Starting from Scratch—Twice ~ Éric de Chassey
Squeezing “Modern Art” between Communism and Liberalism: The Art of Andrzej Wróblewski and Jean Hélion ~ Serge Guilbaut
Execution of Historical Painting: realism, Trauma and War ~ Kataryzna Bojarska
The Crippled Working Class: Wróblewski’s Socialist realism in Nowa Huta ~ Jérôme Bazin
Andrzej Wróblewski: Painting as Self-Criticism ~ Dorota Jarecka
When Steel Was Broken: On the Death of Stalin ~ Tom McDonough
Exhibition as Film: Exploring Andrzej Wróblewski’s Waiting Room Scenario ~ Lukasz Ronduda
Andrzej Wróblewski: A Work of Fragmentation ~ Ulrich Loock
Andrzej Wróblewski: An Inclusive Lyrical Construction, or the Lyricism of the Common ~ Jean-François Chevrier
The Pythagorean Trap ~ Anda Rottenberg
A Study in the Symbolic Imagination of a Postwar Artist: Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara and His Role in Andrzej Wróblewski’s Soteriology ~ Jan Michalski
III.
Andrzej Wróblewski: A Biography
List of Works and Photo Credits
Selected Bibliography