Zofia Stryjeńska (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Lubańska; 13 May 1891 – 28 February 1976) was a Polish

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

graphic designer A graphic designer is a practitioner who follows the discipline of graphic design, either within companies or organizations or independently. They are professionals in design and visual communication, with their primary focus on transforming ...

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicate ...

stage designer Scenic design, also known as stage design or set design, is the creation of scenery for theatrical productions including plays and musicals. The term can also be applied to film and television productions, where it may be referred to as prod ...

, and a representative of

art deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

. Along with

Olga Boznańska Olga Boznańska (15 April 1865 – 26 October 1940) was a Polish painter of the turn of the 20th century. She was a notable painter in Poland and Europe, and was stylistically associated with the French impressionism, though she rejected this lab ...

and

Tamara de Lempicka Tamara Łempicka (; 16 June 1894 – 18 March 1980), known outside Poland as Tamara de Lempicka, was a Polish painter who spent her working life in France and the United States. She is best known for her polished Art Deco portraits of aristocr ...

, she was one of the best-known Polish women artists of the interwar period. In the 1930s she was nominated for the prestigious Golden Laurel of the

Polish Academy of Literature The Polish Academy of Literature () was one of the most important state institutions of literary life in the Second Polish Republic, operating between 1933 and 1939 with the headquarters in Warsaw. It was founded by the decree of the Council of ...

, but declined the offer.Dorota Marszałek
Zofia Stryjeńska – polska malarka art deco.
''Mapa kultury''. Retrieved December 12, 2011.

Biography

Stryjeńska was the oldest of 6 children of Franciszek Lubański. As a child, she often drew and painted. She first attended a craft school, then a teacher's seminary, and until 1909 Leonard Stroynowski's private art school. In 1909 she started to study painting at the Maria Niedzielska fine art school for women. She graduated in 1911 with honors for painting and applied art. In 1910 she joined her father on a trip to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

via

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

, during which they visited galleries and museums in

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. ...

and

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

. As a young girl she worked for magazines such as "Role" and "Voice of the People". On October 1, 1911 she was admitted to the

Academy of Fine Arts, Munich The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich (, also known as Munich Academy) is one of the oldest and most significant art academies in Germany. It is located in the Maxvorstadt district of Munich, in Bavaria, Germany. In the second half of the 19th centur ...

; only 40 of around 200 applicants were taken. She used the name of her brother, Tadeusz Grzymała Lubański and dressed like a boy because at the time, the academy did not accept women. After a year, her fellow students started to become suspicious. She returned to Kraków, where she worked on painting and literature. Her first artistic success came in 1912, when the

Kraków Society of Friends of Fine Art , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

included 18 of her watercolour illustrations of Polish Fables in its exhibition. In May 1913, Jerzy Warchałowski, art critic of the Polish magazine "Time", discussed Sophia Lubański extensively, making her well known and launching her career. At that time, the family moved to bohemian Kraków, where she met Zelenski,

Zdzisław Jachimecki Zdzisław Jachimecki (Lwów, 7 July 1882 – 27 October 1953, Kraków) was a Polish historian of music, composer, professor at the Jagiellonian University and the Academy of Music in Kraków, Kraków Music Academy, and member of the Polish Academy ...

, Puszetów and

Wojciech Kossak Wojciech Horacy Kossak (31 December 1856 – 29 July 1942) was a Polish Painting, painter and member of the celebrated Kossak family of artists and writers. He was the son of painter Juliusz Kossak, and twin brother of freedom fighter Tadeusz Ko ...

. She became friends with

Magdalena Samozwaniec Magdalena Samozwaniec née Kossak (26 July 1894, Kraków – 20 October 1972, Warsaw) was a Polish writer. The Kossak family is known for many artists including her father Wojciech Kossak, her brother Jerzy Jerzy is the Polish version of the m ...

and her sister

Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska, ''née'' Kossak (24 November 1891 – 9 July 1945), was a Polish poet. She was known as the "Polish Sappho" and "queen of lyrical poetry" during Poland's interwar period.

Interwar period

On 4 November 1916 Zofia married Karol Stryjeński, an architect of the

Zakopane style Zakopane Style (or Witkiewicz Style) is an art style, most visible in architecture, but also found in furniture and related objects, inspired by the regional art of Poland's highland regions, most notably Podhale. Drawing on the motifs and tradi ...

. They had three children: daughter Magda and twins Jacek and Jan. Stryjeński introduced his wife to his friends, artists and representatives of world literature. She met, among others,

Władysław Skoczylas Władysław Skoczylas (4 April 1883, Wieliczka – 8 April 1934, Warsaw) was a Polish watercolorist, woodcutter, sculptor and art teacher. Biography His father was a foreman in the salt mines. He graduated from the gymnasium in Bochnia, then a ...

, Henryk Kune,

Stefan Żeromski Stefan Żeromski ( ; 14 October 1864 – 20 November 1925) was a Polish novelist and dramatist belonging to the Young Poland movement at the turn of the 20th century. He was called the "conscience of Polish literature". He also wrote under ...

Władysław Reymont Władysław Stanisław Reymont (; born Rejment; 7 May 1867 – 5 December 1925) was a Polish novelist and the laureate of the 1924 Nobel Prize in Literature. His best-known work is the award-winning four-volume novel '' Chłopi'' (''The Peasant ...

Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (; 24 February 188518 September 1939), commonly known as Witkacy, was a Polish writer, painter, philosopher, theorist, playwright, novelist, and photographer active before World War I and during the interwar period. ...

and later several poets of the

Skamander Skamander was a Polish group of experimental poetry, poets founded in 1918 by Julian Tuwim, Antoni Słonimski, Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz, Kazimierz Wierzyński and Jan Lechoń. Initially unnamed, in December 1919 it adopted the name ''Skamander'' ...

group. In the period 1921 – 1927, she lived in Zakopane, where her husband worked as a director of the School for the Wood Industry. This period, started out happy and with abundant creativity. However, over the years she became more and more estranged from Karol, which eventually led to open conflict and divorce in 1927. Karol died in 1932. After the divorce, she moved to Warsaw, where in 1929 she married actor Artur Klemens Socha. The marriage was soon ended, as she discovered that he suffered from

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms depend on the stage it presents: primary, secondary, latent syphilis, latent or tertiary. The prim ...

. By the end of the 1930s she was connected, also for a short time, with the architect and bon vivant Achilles Brez and then with the traveller and writer Arkady Fiedler. In the first half of the 1930s she was a forgotten artist. Stryjeńska did not want to seek recognition. She desperately needed money, as she sold few paintings. Only in 1938 did she receive several orders from the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including one for a

kilim A kilim ( ; ; ) is a flat tapestry-weaving, woven carpet or rug traditionally produced in countries of the former Persian Empire, including Iran and Turkey, but also in the Balkans and the Turkic countries. Kilims can be purely decorative ...

for the Emperor of Japan

Hirohito , Posthumous name, posthumously honored as , was the 124th emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, from 25 December 1926 until Death and state funeral of Hirohito, his death in 1989. He remains Japan's longest-reigni ...

. She took part in the interior decoration of the Polish passenger ships "Batory"and "Pilsudski" and the interior decoration of Wedel's cafe. People started buying her paintings of Slavic and historical themes again. She spent the second world war in Kraków. In 1943 she discovered she had syphilis, which affected her eyes so that at times she could not paint. In the beginning of 1945 the Russians entered the city, instituting a communist regime. Stryjeńska decided to leave Poland. She joined her children in Geneva. After many years in Paris, she settled in Geneva, where her daughter and her sons lived. She tried to go to the U.S., seeking help from the Kosciuszko Foundation. However, the Board of the Foundation rejected her. She continued to live very modestly in Geneva, helped by her children. She remained emotionally connected with Poland and the Polish culture, Switzerland remained a foreign country to her. She died on 28 February 1976 in Geneva at the age of 84 and was buried in the local Chêne-Bourg cemetery.

Artwork

Stryjeńska was part of the art group "Rytm" (rhythm). She may also have been influenced by

Young Poland Young Poland ( ) was a modernist period in Polish visual arts, literature and music, covering roughly the years between 1890 and 1918. It was a result of strong aesthetic opposition to the earlier ideas of Positivism. Young Poland promoted tre ...

(''Młoda Polska''), a stylistically diverse art movement active between 1890 and 1918. She mainly used the

tempera Tempera (), also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder medium, usually glutinous material such as egg yolk. ''Tempera'' also refers to the paintings done in ...

technique, producing lithographs, drawings, posters, designing toys, tapestry, stage sets, stage costumes and making book illustrations. Among her best known works are: ''Pastorałka'', ''Slavic Idols cycle'' and ''Passover'', as well as illustrations of the poem "Monachomachii" by bishop Krasicki, ''Seasons'', ''Christmas Carols'', ''Four Polish Dances'', and ''the sacraments''. She made part of the decoration of the Polish pavilion at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris in 1925, a series of six paintings for the twelve months, showing rural village life and seasonal change. This work brought her Europe-wide fame and five World Trade awards. She made a series of paintings depicting Polish folk dance artists in 1927. In many works, she depicting the pre-Christian Slavic gods worshipped in Poland. However, the artist herself always considered herself a Christian. She was raised as a Catholic, but converted for a short time to the Evangelical Church in order to divorce and remarry. Her fascination with the beliefs of ancient Slavs should be regarded as an artistic interest only.

Writing

Stryjeńska wanted to give her children a good education. She wrote a handbook on the

etiquette Etiquette ( /ˈɛtikɛt, -kɪt/) can be defined as a set of norms of personal behavior in polite society, usually occurring in the form of an ethical code of the expected and accepted social behaviors that accord with the conventions and ...

of her time, using the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

"Professor Hilar". Her memoir ''Bread Almost Every Day'' was published in 1995. Her writing is characterized by free flowing language and a rich vocabulary .

Recognition

Mieczyslaw Grydzewski nicknamed her "her royal highness, the princess of Polish art" in "Literary News". In 1930 the government gave her its highest award, Polonia Restituta. in 1936 the

awarded her the Gold Academic Wreath for her contribution to Polish art in general. After the second world war, she refused to join the

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

-run

Polish Writers' Union The Polish Writers' Union or the Union of Polish Writers (, ZLP) was established at a meeting of Polish writers and activists in Lublin behind the Soviet front line, during the liberation of Poland by the Red Army in 1944. Its initial name (Prof ...

. Therefore, official policy was to ignore her as an artist and systematically call her insignificant. Yet, the government widely reproduced her art without paying her royalties. She did not complain about the missed income, but deplored the low quality of the reproductions. In 1974, the US-based Alfred Jurzykowski Foundation presented her an award. Only in 1989 was she rehabilitated in Poland and recognized again as a great Polish artist. In 1991, Maria Gronska presented her work in a monograph. In 2008, the

National Museum in Kraków The National Museum in Kraków (), popularly abbreviated as MNK, is the largest museum in Poland, and the main branch of Poland's National Museum, which has several independent branches with permanent collections around the country. Established in ...

organized a great retrospective exhibition of the work of Stryjeńska. In 2009, the exhibition visited the

National Museum in Poznan 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, ce ...

and the

National Museum in 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 ( Egyptian, Greek, Roman), counting about 11,000 pieces, an ...

. The exhibition was accompanied by a richly illustrated catalogue and bibliography, edited by Svyatoslav Lenartowicz, curator of the exhibition. In 2011, Stryjeńska was the subject of a 2 zloty Polish commemorative coin. On May 13, 2021,

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

celebrated her 130th birthday with a

Google Doodle Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and historical figures. The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition of the long-running annual Bu ...

Notes and references

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stryjenska, Zofia 1891 births 1976 deaths Artists from Kraków Polish graphic designers Polish draughtsmen Polish illustrators 20th-century Polish painters Polish scenic designers Polish women illustrators Academy of Fine Arts, Munich alumni Polish women graphic designers 20th-century Polish women painters