The Polish Poster School is a well-established term in art used to describe a phenomenon that began in the late 1950s, when several Polish artists introduced a completely new style of poster design. It did not emerge from a specific program, but rather describes the organic contribution of several prominent artists who almost accidentally met at the same time, in the same place and influenced each other through rivalry (Culture.pl on YouTube).
“Jazz Jamboree”, designed by Waldemar Świerzy in 1976; Source: Polish Poster Shop
Polish posters of those times were characterized by a wide use of painting techniques, bold spirt and use of color and sophisticated imaginary. At that time, the pursuit of a unified graphic style with rigorous compositions that gained popularity in the West was replaced by euphoric, expressionist designs.The founding fathers, Henryk Tomaszewski and Józef Mroszczak, developed a visual culture that became a source of artistic expression in the times of Soviet propaganda.
Jerzy Maksymiuk’s “Polish Chamber Orchestra” designed by Waldemar Swierzy in 1982; Source: Polish Poster
“Czarna Carmen” Movie Poster, designed by Wojciech Fangor in 1959, Grafmag
The Political scene
The 1950s were one of the darkest moments of Polish history. After the Second World War and the defeat of Germany, Polish socialist state subordinated to the Soviet Union was created. With the establishment of People’s Republic of Poland cultural activities were constrained by censorship and a monopoly of state-controlled cultural institutions. Artists were unable to express themselves freely, and the refined works of “high art” lost their function. Everything was supposed to speak to ordinary workers, hence the intellectual spheres were opt to be disband. The promotion of cultural events such as opera, theater, films and exhibitions, became virtually the only context in which artists could express themselves. These posters’ images frequently carried powerful, inexplicit commentaries on the designers’ political surroundings which did not directly refer to the event that was promoted. “The Communist state maintained a strict censorship policy and monopolized the commissioning and distribution of all printed media in that period, yet bureaucratic patrons colluded in turning a blind eye to the oblique but powerful critical commentaries contained in many of the posters.” (MoMA)
“Jimi Hendrix” designed by Waldemar Świerzy in 1974; Polski Plakat
International exposure
This artistic movement commonly known as Polish Poster School, has made quite an appearance in the Western artistic communities. It was assumed that Easter Europe was a very bureaucratic and dark place completely controlled by politics. Meanwhile the posters have been very colourful, lyrical, often had an allegorical undertone and fundamentally didn’t match the expectations of the Eastern Block culture (Culture.pl on YouTube).
Perhaps the greatest exposure to the distinctiveness of Polish poster art was given by the International Poster Biennale, which took place in Warsaw in 1966. Józef Mroszczak organized an event dedicated to highlighting the finest achievements in poster design. The Zachęta Gallery has become a meeting place for artists from all over the world, even Andy Warhol took part in it.
“Warsaw International Poster Biennale in Hong Kong” exhibition; Source: Culture.pl
Beyond “Banana” idea
Of all the countries of the Eastern bloc, Poland sustained the most consistent resistance towards the Soviet regime. Polish designers through mass produced poster art expressed their opposition to the state apparatus and hostility towards the communist party.
Tadeusz Trepkowski’s Lithograph “captured the memory of the devastation wrought in World War II—just one in four buildings remained standing in Warsaw” (MoMA). In the 1950s, the communist central state created a utopian, anti-fascist narrative focused on promoting peace against “capitalist aggression.”
Tadeusz Trepkowski, “Nie! (No!) designed in 1952; Source: MoMA.
Jan Lenica designed the Wozzeck poster in 1964 for Warsaw production of the “Alban Berg’s avant-garde opera about ordinary people striving for dignity in the face of abuse and brutality” (MoMA). The theme as well as the aesthetic resonated with the atmosphere of escalating tension within the Communist Bloc. The poster has been awarded a Gold Medal at the first Warsaw International Poster Biennale.
Poster for Alban Berg’s “Wozzeck” opera, designed by Jan Lenica in 1964; Source: MoMA
Roman Cieślewicz’s Wiezien (The Prisoner) (1962) created a poster for the Warsaw production of the 1944 opera by Luigi Dallapiccoli, in which a Spanish prisoner, after avoiding punishment, find himself in the arms of the Grand Inquisitor and is burned at the stake.“Both poster and opera conveyed the pessimism and sense of deception and entrapment prevalent in Cold War Europe” (MoMA).
Roman Cieślewicz’s Wiezien (The Prisoner) (1962); Source: MoMA