Waldemar Świerzy ( 1931 – 27 November 2013) was a Polish artist.

Life

Born in

Katowice Katowice (, ) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Katowice urban area. As of 2021, Katowice has an official population of 286,960, and a resident population estimate of around 315,000. K ...

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 graduated from the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts in 1952. He was subsequently Professor in the University of Fine Arts in Poznań from 1965 and Professor in the

Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw () is a public university of visual arts and applied arts located in the Polish capital. The academy traces its history back to the Department of Arts founded at the Warsaw University in the Duchy of Warsaw in 18 ...

from 1994. In 1992 the government of Poland issued a postage stamp to honor one of his Cyrk posters, 'Clown with derby'. Swierzy is one of the Polish School of Posters' most prolific artists, having created over 2500 posters. He employed unusual concepts with a variety of techniques, frequently mirroring Polish social history from 1950s through 1980s, with a myriad of styles: folk art from the 50s, pop art from the 60s, portraits from the 70s, and TV images from the 80s. In addition, his Jazz Greats series of famous American jazz personalities became so well known that he reissued them in his later years as signed lithographs. The series includes:

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Gen ...

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

, Charles Mingus and

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz Saxophone, saxophonist, bandleader, and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of beb ...

, among others. The lithographs were editioned by S2Art. The first group, which came out in March 2003, were of

, Ella Fitzgerald,

Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk ( October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the Jazz standard, standard jazz repertoire, includ ...

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader, known as the "King of Swing". His orchestra did well commercially. From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing bi ...

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

, and

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...

. King Oliver and

Lester Young Lester Willis Young (August 27, 1909 – March 15, 1959), nicknamed "Pres" or "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and occasional clarinetist. Coming to prominence while a member of Count Basie's orchestra, Young was one of the most i ...

followed a few years later.

Major awards

*1956 - Tadeusz Trepkowski Prize, Warsaw, PL *1959, 1962 - 1st (Toulouse-Lautrec) Prize -1st and 3rd International Film Posters Exhibition,

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

, FR *1961, 1962, 1963, 1966 August -"Best Poster of the Month": 1968, 1971, 1972, 1975 February -"Best Poster of the Month", 1976, 1980, 1983, 1988 -"Best Poster of the Year", Warsaw's Best Poster Competition, PL *1964 - 1st Prize -Film Poster, "Poster of the Year",

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, DK *1965 - 1st Prize, 1971-1st Prize, 1975-1st Prize, 1977-2nd Prize, 1985-1st Prize, 1987-2nd Prize, 1989-1st Prize -Polish Poster Biennale,

, PL *1967, 1971 - Award, Posters -Polish Ministry of Culture & Art, Warsaw, PL *1970 - 1st Prize -X Art Biennale di

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, BR *1972 - 2nd Prize, 1976 -1st Prize -4th and 6th International Poster Biennale, Warsaw, PL *1975 - 1st Prize, 1980 -2nd Prize, 1985-1st Prize -Key Art Award, Posters -The Hollywood Reporter,

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

*1977 - 1st Prize -II Poster Biennale,

Lahti Lahti (; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Päijät-Häme. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Lahti is approximately , while the Lahti sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is the mo ...

, FI *1985 – 1st Prize in the Annual Film Poster Competition of "The Hollywood Reporter", Los Angeles *1985 - 1st, 3rd Prize -"Jazzpo", International Jazz Poster Exhibition,

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Kuyavia. Straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its bank (geography), left-bank tributary, the Brda (river), Brda, the strategic location of Byd ...

, PL

Major exhibitions

*1960 – Galerie in der Biberstrasse;

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, Austria *1964 – Documenta Kassel;

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geography), central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel (region), Kassel and the d ...

; Germany *1978 – Poster Museum Wilanow;

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, Poland *1980 – Poliforum Siqueiros;

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, Mexico *1982 – Galerie Oxe;

, Denmark *1989 – Taldemuseo;

, Finland *1991 – Creation Gallery GB,

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, Japan *1993 – Festival de l'Affiche, Chaumont, France *2000 – Plakat Kunsf Hof;

Essen Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...

, Germany *2001 – Museum of Contemporary Art;

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

, Iran *2002 – Muzeum Miejskie Wrocławia;

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

, Poland Member of Alliance Graphique International (AGI) since 1965.

References

External links

Waldemar Swierzy's Posters at lesaffiches.com. In FrenchWaldemar Swierzy's Posters at ContemporaryPosters.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swierzy, Waldemar 2013 deaths Academic staff of the University of Fine Arts in Poznań Polish poster artists Polish lithographers Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts alumni 1931 births Academic staff of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw