Date: 1970
Size: 26.5 x 39 inches
Artist: Waldemar Świerzy
About the Poster: Beginning in the 1950s and through the 1980s, the Polish School of Posters combined the aesthetics of painting with the succinctness and simple metaphor of the poster. It developed characteristics such as painterly gesture, linear quality, and vibrant colors, as well as a sense of individual personality, humor, and fantasy. It was in this way that the polish poster was able to make the distinction between designer and artist less apparent.
Polish posters have come to stand apart from the advertising design conventions fostered in Europe during the 20th century. It was during the communist regime, a time when culture was closely monitored by the state, that Polish artists found liberation in poster art. Ironically, this foremost public art form became ground for individual expression. During that period, the cultural institutions, of theatre and cinema especially, flourished as they were funded by government agencies. Artists freshly out of the fine arts academy flocked towards poster production as the demand for this art was rapidly growing. The result became some of the most unique and expressive posters the world has ever seen - and artworks in themselves.
Contemporary Polish circus posters emerged in the early 1960s as a genre of the Polish School of posters. They are characterized by their display of aesthetic qualities such as strong colors, metaphors, animals, humor and linear designs. They are usually based on a single theme and not meant to be advertisements - more like an attempt to interest the passerby in an upcoming circus. Circus posters, whether Polish or American, are considered highly collectible and with images as strong as these, we can certainly see why.
About the Artist: Waldemar Świerzy was the co-founder of the Polish School of Posters; a poster and graphic artist, book illustrator, born on 9 September 1931 in Katowice. He died on 27 November 2013. Świerzy is noted for the jacket designs of the excellent Współczesna Proza Światowa / Contemporary World's Prose literature series published by PIW as well as for record sleeves, calendar and post stamp designs. He has designed the artwork for the Polish pavilions at the International Fairs in New York, Leipzig, Vienna, Casablanca and Poznan. In the mid-1950s his poster design technique visibly changed to become more painting-like. The composition of his posters acquired a new dynamics - as if their form was exploding from the inside. This change was influenced by the new trends in painting, especially in the branch of abstract painting which supported spontaneous expression. Świerzy was the first to introduce elements of painting to poster art - and has remained forever faithful to them. This may explain why his posters are invariably easy to recognize despite their stylistic diversity. He has an extraordinary ability to combine unrestricted painting with a clarity of the graphic sign.
(Source: https://culture.pl/en/artist/waldemar-swierzy)
In very good condition and ready to frame!
