Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (; 24 February 188518 September 1939), commonly known as Witkacy, was a Polish writer, painter,

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

, theorist, playwright, novelist, and photographer active before

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and during the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

Life

Born in Warsaw, Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz was a son of the painter, architect and an art critic Stanisław Witkiewicz. His mother was Maria Pietrzkiewicz Witkiewiczowa. Both of his parents were born in the

Samogitia Samogitia, often known by its Lithuanian language, Lithuanian name ''Žemaitija'' (Samogitian language, Samogitian: ''Žemaitėjė''; see Samogitia#Etymology and alternative names, below for alternative and historical names) is one of the five ...

n region of Lithuania. His godmother was the internationally famous actress

Helena Modrzejewska Helena Modrzejewska (; born Jadwiga Helena Mizel; October 12, 1840 – April 8, 1909), known professionally in the United States as Helena Modjeska, was a Polish-American actress who specialized in William Shakespeare, Shakespearean and tragic ro ...

Witkiewicz was reared at the family home in

Zakopane Zakopane (Gorals#Language, Podhale Goral: ''Zokopane'') is a town in the south of Poland, in the southern part of the Podhale region at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. From 1975 to 1998, it was part of Nowy Sącz Voivodeship; since 1999, it has ...

. In accordance with his father's

antipathy Antipathy is a dislike for something or somebody, the opposite of sympathy. While antipathy may be induced by experience, it sometimes exists without a rational cause-and-effect explanation being present to the individuals involved. Thus, the ori ...

to the "servitude of the school," he was home-schooled and encouraged to develop his talents across a range of creative fields. Against his father's wishes he studied at the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts with Józef Mehoffer and Jan Stanisławski. Witkiewicz was close friends with composer

Karol Szymanowski Karol Maciej Szymanowski (; 3 October 188229 March 1937) was a Polish composer and pianist. He was a member of the modernism (music), modernist Young Poland movement that flourished in the late 19th and early 20th century. Szymanowski's early w ...

and, from childhood, with

Bronisław Malinowski Bronisław Kasper Malinowski (; 7 April 1884 – 16 May 1942) was a Polish anthropologist and ethnologist whose writings on ethnography, social theory, and field research have exerted a lasting influence on the discipline of anthropology. ...

and Zofia Romer. Romer was romantically linked to both Bronisław Malinowski and Witkiewicz. He had a tumultuous affair with prominent actress Irena Solska who according to is represented as the heroine Akne Montecalfi in his first novel, ''The 622 Downfalls of Bungo or The Demonic Woman'', 1911. According to Micińska he also represented himself as the character Bungo and Malinowski as the Duke of Nevermore. The unfinished novel, which was not published until 1972, also describes erotic encounters between Bungo and the Duke of Nevermore. Taught wet plate photography by his father, it was during this period that he also began producing the intimate portrait photography for which he is known; producing striking portraits of his circle in Zakopane and many self-portraits. In 1914 following a crisis in Witkiewicz's personal life due to the suicide of his fiancée , for which he blamed himself, he was invited by Malinowski to act as draftsman and photographer on his anthropological expedition to the then

Territory of Papua The Territory of Papua comprised the southeastern quarter of the island of New Guinea from 1883 to 1975. In 1883, the Government of Queensland annexed this territory for the British Empire. The United Kingdom Government refused to ratify the ...

, by way of

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

and Australia. The venture was interrupted by the onset of

. After quarrelling with Malinowski in Australia, Witkiewicz who was by birth a subject of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, travelled to

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

(then Petrograd) from Sydney and was commissioned as an officer in the Pavlovsky Regiment of the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

. His ailing father, a Polish patriot, was deeply grieved by his son's decision and died in 1915 without seeing him again. In July 1916 he was seriously wounded in the battle on Stokhid River in what is now Ukraine and was evacuated to St Petersburg where he witnessed the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

. He claimed that he worked out his philosophical principles during an artillery barrage, and that when the Revolution broke out he was elected political commissar of his regiment. His later works would show his fear of social revolution and foreign invasion, often couched in absurdist language. He had begun to support himself through portrait painting and continued to do so on his return to Zakopane in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. He soon entered into a major creative phase, setting out his principles in ''New Forms in Painting'' and ''Introduction to the Theory of Pure Form in the Theatre''. He associated with a group of "formist" artists in the early 1920s and wrote most of his plays during this period. Of about forty plays written by Witkiewicz between 1918 and 1925, twenty-one survive, and only ''Jan Maciej Karol Hellcat'' met with any public success during the author's lifetime. The original Polish manuscript of ''The Crazy Locomotive'' was also lost; the play, back-translated from two French versions, was not published until 1962. Witkacy Autoportret 1924

After 1925, and taking the name 'Witkacy', the artist ironically re-branded his portrait painting which provided his economic sustenance as ''The S.I. Witkiewicz Portrait Painting Company'', with the tongue in cheek motto: "The customer must always be satisfied". Several of the so-called grades of portraits were offered, from the merely representational to the more expressionistic and the narcotics-assisted. Many of his paintings were annotated with mnemonics listing the drugs taken while painting a particular painting, even if this happened to be only a cup of coffee. He also varied the spelling of his name, signing himself ''Witkac, Witkatze, Witkacjusz, Vitkacius'' and ''Vitecasse'' — the last being French for "breaks quickly". In the late 1920s he turned to novel-writing, writing two works, ' and '' Insatiability''. Both are set in the near future, and as such have been sometimes considered to be part of the fantastika genre. The latter, his major work, encompasses geopolitics, psychoactive drugs, and philosophy. In 1935 he was awarded the Golden Laurel of the Polish Academy of Literature for his novels. During the 1930s, Witkiewicz published a text on his experiences of narcotics, including

peyote The peyote (; ''Lophophora williamsii'' ) is a small, spineless cactus which contains psychoactive alkaloids, particularly mescaline. is a Spanish word derived from the Nahuatl (), meaning "caterpillar cocoon", from a root , "to glisten". p. ...

, and pursued his interests in philosophy writing, ''Concepts and Principles Implied by the Concept of Existence'' 1935. In 1934 he finishes perhaps his most famous literary work, the drama , finally published in 1948. He also promoted emerging writers such as

Bruno Schulz Bruno Schulz (12 July 1892 – 19 November 1942) was a History of the Jews in Poland, Polish Jewish writer, fine artist, Literary criticism, literary critic and Art education, art teacher. He is regarded as one of the great Polish (language), Po ...

Death

Shortly after

was invaded by Germany in September 1939, Witkiewicz escaped with his young lover Czesława Oknińska to the rural

frontier A frontier is a political and geographical term referring to areas near or beyond a boundary. Australia The term "frontier" was frequently used in colonial Australia in the meaning of country that borders the unknown or uncivilised, th ...

town of Jeziory, in what was then eastern Poland. After hearing the news of the

Soviet invasion of Poland The Soviet invasion of Poland was a military conflict by the Soviet Union without a formal declaration of war. On 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Second Polish Republic, Poland from the east, 16 days after Nazi Germany invaded Polan ...

on 17 September 1939, Witkacy committed suicide on 18 September by taking a

drug overdose A drug overdose (overdose or OD) is the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities much greater than are recommended. Retrieved on September 20, 2014.

and trying to slit his wrists. He convinced Czesława to attempt suicide with him by consuming Luminal, but she survived. The film ''Mystification'' (2010), written and directed by Jacek Koprowicz proposes, in surrealist fashion, that Witkiewicz faked his own death and lived secretly in Poland until 1968.

Legacy

Witkiewicz had died in some obscurity but his reputation began to rise soon after the war, which had destroyed his life and devastated Poland. Outside of Poland his work was discussed as a precursor to post-WWII European drama in

Martin Esslin Martin Julius Esslin OBE (6 June 1918 – 24 February 2002) was a Hungarian-born British producer, dramatist, journalist, adaptor and translator, critic, academic scholar and professor of drama, known for coining the term " theatre of the ab ...

's influential " Theatre of the Absurd" 1961, and later in ''Postdramatisches Theater'' 1999 (''Postdramatic Theatre'' 2006). collected his surviving dramatic writings in two volumes in "Dramaty" (Dramas) 1962 which revived interest in his plays in Poland. Through his translations and scholarship, Daniel Gerould introduced English-language audiences to the writings of Witkiewicz.

Czesław Miłosz Czesław Miłosz ( , , ; 30 June 1911 – 14 August 2004) was a Polish Americans, Polish-American poet, prose writer, translator, and diplomat. He primarily wrote his poetry in Polish language, Polish. Regarded as one of the great poets of the ...

framed his argument in '' The Captive Mind'' around a discussion of Witkiewicz's novel, ''Insatiability''. The artist and theater director

Tadeusz Kantor Tadeusz Kantor (6 April 1915 – 8 December 1990) was a Polish painter, assemblage and Happenings artist, set designer and theatre director. Kantor is renowned for his revolutionary theatrical performances in Poland and abroad. Laureate of ...

was inspired by the ''Cricot'' group, through which Witkiewicz had presented his final plays in Kraków. Kantor brought many of the plays back into currency, first in Poland and then internationally, including ''The Cuttlefish'' (1956) and ''The Water Hen'' (1969). Visual artist Paulina Olowska produced Witkiewicz's ''The Mother: An Unsavoury Play in Two Acts and an Epilogue'' at the

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery in London, housing the United Kingdom's national collection of international Modern art, modern and contemporary art (created from or after 1900). It forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Live ...

in 2015. Films which have Witkiewicz as the subject include ''Tumor Witkacego'' 1985, ''Mystification'' 2010 and ''Witkacy and Malinowski: a cinematic séance in 23 scenes'' 2018. Films based on his works include ''Ludiot i kalugericata'' 1968,''Farewell to Autumn'' 1990, ''Insatiability'' 2003,''Madame Tutli-Putli'' 2007 and ''Nursery Rhyme of a Madman'' 2017. Witkiewicz's paintings and pastel drawings are in the collections of the

National Museum, Warsaw The National Museum in Warsaw (, MNW) is a national museum in Warsaw, one of the largest museums in Poland and the largest in the capital. It comprises a rich collection of ancient art (Art of ancient Egypt, Egyptian, Art in ancient Greece, Greek, ...

, the

National Museum, Kraków National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

, Museum of Literature, Warsaw and the Museum of Central Pomerania with 125 works in

Słupsk Castle The Pomeranian Dukes' Castle () is a Renaissance castle located in Słupsk, Poland. History Built in 1507 during the reign of Bogislaw X in a Gothic architectural style. Between 1580 and 1587, rebuilt as a two-storey Renaissance building, with ...

. The

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

and

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

in New York, and the

Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most import ...

, Sydney hold important examples of his photography. The Villa Oksza Gallery of 20th century art of the Tatra Museum in

holds important examples of his photography and pastel drawings. In the postwar period,

People's Republic of Poland The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland, was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland. ...

's Ministry of Culture decided to exhume Witkiewicz's body, move it to

, and give it a solemn funeral. This was carried out according to plan, though no one was allowed to open the coffin that had been delivered by the Soviet authorities. On 26 November 1994, the Polish Ministry of Culture and Art ordered the exhumation of the presumed grave of Witkiewicz in Zakopane. Genetic tests on the remaining bones proved that the body had belonged to an unknown woman.

Works

Art philosophy

* ' (1919), translated into English as ''New Forms in Painting and the Misunderstandings Arising Therefrom'' (in ''The Witkiewicz Reader'', Quartet, 1993) * ''Szkice estetyczne'' (Aesthetic Sketches, 1922)

Novels

* ' (1911) partial translation into English as ''The 622 Downfalls of Bungo or The Demonic Woman'' (in ''The Witkiewicz Reader'') * ' (1927) partial translation into English as ''Farewell to Autumn'' (in ''The Witkiewicz Reader'') * '' Nienasycenie'' (1930) translated into English as ''Insatiability'' (Quartet Encounter, 1985) * ' ("The Only Way Out") unfinished

Plays

* ''Maciej Korbowa i Bellatrix'' (''Maciej Korbowa and Bellatrix'') (1918) * ''Pragmatyści'' (1919) (translated into English as ''The Pragmatists'') * ''Mister Price, czyli Bzik tropikalny'' (1920) (translated into English as ''Mr Price, or Tropical Madness'') * ''Tumor Mózgowicz'' (1920) (translated into English as ''Tumor Brainiowicz'') * ''Nowe wyzwolenie'' (1920) (translated into English as ''The New Deliverance'') * ''Oni'' (1920) (translated into English as ''They'') * ''Panna Tutli-Putli'' (1920) (''Miss Tootli-Pootli'') * ''W małym dworku'' (1921) (translated into English as ''Country House'') * ''Niepodległość trójkątów'' (1921) (translated into English as ''The Independence of Triangles'') * ''Metafizyka dwugłowego cielęcia'' (1921) (translated into English as ''Metaphysics of a Two-Headed Calf'') * ''Gyubal Wahazar, czyli Na przełęczach bezsensu'' (translated into English as ''Gyubal Wahazar, or Along the Cliffs of the Absurd: A Non-Euclidean Drama in Four Acts'') (1921) * ''Kurka Wodna'' (1921) (Translated into English as ''The Water Hen'') * ''Bezimienne dzieło'' (1921) (translated into English as ''The Anonymous Work: Four Acts of a Rather Nasty Nightmare'') * ''Mątwa'' (1922) (translated into English as ''The Cuttlefish, or The Hyrcanian World View'') * ''Nadobnisie i koczkodany, czyli Zielona pigułka'' (1922) (Translated into English as ''Dainty Shapes and Hairy Apes, or The Green Pill: A Comedy with Corpses'') * ''Jan Maciej Karol Wścieklica'' (1922) (translated into English as ''Jan Maciej Karol Hellcat'') * ''Wariat i zakonnica'' (1923) (translated into English as ''The Madman and the Nun'') * ''Szalona lokomotywa'' (1923) (translated into English as ''The Crazy Locomotive'') * ''Janulka, córka Fizdejki'' (1923) (translated into English as ''Janulka, Daughter of Fizdejko'') * ''Matka'' (1924) translated into English as ''The Mother'' (in ''The Mother & Other Unsavoury Plays'', Applause, 1993) * ''Sonata Belzebuba'' (1925) (translated into English as ''The Beelzebub Sonata'') * ''Szewcy'' (1931–34) translated into English as ''The Shoemakers'' (in ''The Mother & Other Unsavoury Plays'', Applause, 1993)

Filmography

* ''Witkacy z Niną w Warszawie'' (1927), comedy film by Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz. Starring him and his wife Jadwiga in the city of Warsaw. Film housed in the Adam Mickiewicz Museum of Literature in Warsaw. Details: black and white film reel Pathé 9.5 mm, 5 minutes, silent film; remastered in 4K quality in 2015.

Other works

* ''Narkotyki — niemyte dusze'' (1932), partial translation into English as ''Narcotics'' (in ''The Witkiewicz Reader'') * ''Pojęcia i twierdzenia implikowane przez pojęcie istnienia'' (Concepts and Statements Implied by the Idea of Existence) (1935) * ''Jedyne wyjście'' * ''Kompozycia fantastyczna'' * ''Pocałunek mongolskiego księcia''

Sample artwork

File:Jadwiga Janczewska by S. I. Witkeiwicz 1913.jpg, Jadwiga Janczewska, Zakopane
1913 File:Witkacy Czarny Staw.jpg, Black Lake
1907, Tatra Museum in Zakopane File:Witkacy Zima w Zakopanem.jpg, Winter Landscape at Zakopane
after 1930, Museum of Fine Arts, Szépművészeti, Budapest File:MrsBerensonbyWitkacy.jpg, Bronisława Wieniawa-Długoszowska
1918 File:Witkacy Nova Aurigae.jpg, Nova Aurigae
1918, Adam Mickiewicz Museum of Literature, Warsaw File:Witkacy Kompozycja 1.jpg, Composition
1922,

File:Witkiewicz-Fantazja-Bajka.jpg, Fantasy – Fairy-tale
1922,

File:Witkacy-Fałsz kobiety (Maryla Grossmanowa i autoportret).jpg, Self-portrait with Mrs. Maryla Grosmanowa
1927,

File:Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz Portret chłopca 1934 rok.jpg, Portrait of a boy
1934, Silesian Museum (Katowice) File:Witkacy - Portret Zofii Dembowskiej-Romer - 1935-04-11 - KDM I 1929.jpg, Zofia Romer
1935 File:Witkacy-Autoportret 1938.jpg, Self-portrait
1938, Silesian Museum (Katowice)

Performances of work

* ''The Crazy Locomotive'' (''Szalona lokomotywa'') received its New York premier at the Chelsea Theatre in 1977, under the direction of Des McAnuff. The

Obie Award The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given since 1956 by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theater artists and groups involved in off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City. Starting just after th ...

-winning production starred

Dwight Schultz William Dwight Schultz (born November 24, 1947) is an American television, film and voice actor. He is known for his roles as List of The A-Team characters#Howling Mad Murdock, Captain "Howling Mad" Murdock on the 1980s action series ''The A-Te ...

, Bob DeFrank and

Glenn Close Glenda Veronica Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress. In a career spanning over five decades on Glenn Close on screen and stage, screen and stage, she has received List of awards and nominations received by Glenn Close, numerous ac ...

in leading roles. * Two New York premiers of Witkacy plays: ''The Madman and the Nun'' ''(Wariat i zakonnica)'' in 1979 under the direction of Paul Berman and ''The Water Hen'' ''(Kurka Wodna)'' directed by Brad Mays were staged by the ''Theatre Off-Park'', in 1983. Broadway producer / Theatre Off-Park managing director Patricia Flynn Peate produced both plays, which were well received by critics and audiences alike. Future

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

theatre critic Mark Matousek, then writing for the theatrical journal ''Other Stages'', praised ''The Water Hen'' for "masterful comic direction," and the piece was videotaped for permanent inclusion in the

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

's Billy Rose Theatre Collection. * The British premiere of "They" "(Oni)" was presented at the Polish Theatre Hammersmith, London by POSK, directed by Paul Brightwell in 1984 * The New York premiere of ''The Shoemakers'' ''(Szewcy)'' was presented by the ''Jean Cocteau Repertory'' under the direction of Włodzimierz Herman in 1987. * ''The Madman and the Nun'' was presented in 1989 by ''The Cosmic Bicycle Theatre'' at the ''Summer Music from Greensborough'', a Classical Music Festival in Greensborough, Vermont, and in Boston, at The Charlestown Working Theatre. Directed by Jonathan Edward Cross .k.a. Jonny ClockWorks The production used Actors alongside Life-sized Puppets. Two of the original Puppet Figures are in the collection of the Witkacy Teatre in Zarkopane' Poland. * The New York premiere of Witkacy's ''Tumor Brainiowicz'' presented by '' La MaMa ETC'' was performed by ''The Theatre of a Two-Headed Calf'' (named after the Witkacy play ''Metaphysics of a Two-Headed Calf''), under the direction of Brooke O'Harra. This production was followed by Witkacy's ''The Mother'' in 2003, also under O'Harra's direction and also a New York premier. The production featured puppets and video. * In 2019 ''Witkacy/Two-Headed Calf'', a collaboration between CalArts Center for New Performance and STUDIO teatrgaleria, Warsaw, was directed by

References

* Sarah Boxer,
A Polish Satirist Obsessed with Identity
. ''

,'' 24 April 1998 * F. Coniglione, * Halina Florynska-Lalewicz, Monika Mokrzycka-Pokora, Irena Kossowska
Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (Witkacy)
at culture.pl * Daniel Gerould, ''Witkacy: Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz as an Imaginative Writer'' (University of Washington Press, 1981)

* Łozińska Hempel, Maria (1986). ''Z łańcucha wspomnień.'' Wydawnictwo Literackie.

External links

*
Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (Witkacy)
at culture.pl
Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (Witkacy)
at poezja.org
Witkiewicz & Futurism – The Crazy Locomotive

Witkacy's Madness: The Lost Manuscript of a Total Artist
on culture.pl {{DEFAULTSORT:Witkiewicz, Stanislaw Ignacy 1885 births 1939 suicides 1939 deaths Polish modern painters 20th-century Polish dramatists and playwrights Polish male dramatists and playwrights Polish male novelists 20th-century Polish novelists 20th-century Polish painters 20th-century Polish male artists Photographers from Warsaw Suicides by sharp instrument in Ukraine Golden Laurel of the Polish Academy of Literature Writers from Warsaw Artists from Warsaw People from Warsaw Governorate People from Zakopane Artists who died by suicide 20th-century Polish male writers Polish male painters 20th-century Polish philosophers Drug-related suicides in Ukraine