The “Central European Triangle” and the Academy of Fine Arts in

artist might hold important keys to understanding his style. Therefore, the particular atmosphere of the arts in Poland, especially in Krakow, before the outbreak of the Second World War should be taken into account.

In the 1880s, when the south of Poland was still part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, Krakow was the historic and artistic center of Polish culture, part of what some scholars have named the “Central European triangle,” along with Vienna and Prague.⁸⁶ Since Poland was not a free nation that only gained independence in 1918, during the end of the nineteenth century and the first part of the twentieth century, many Polish art historians and artists tried energetically to preserve Polish cultural

85 Kuzmack, “Interview with John Komski June 7, 1990,” p. 26.

86 Within each city were created different artistic groups. The strongest ones were: the ‘Vienna Secession’ in Vienna, ‘Sztuka’ in Krakow, and ‘Mánes’ in Prague. These three groups were also engaged with the publication of their own literary and artistic journals: the Viennese Ver Sacrum, the Polish Życie and the Czech Volné Směry. However, the contacts between the groups definitely ceased with the start of the First World War. As Krzysztofowicz-Kozakowska explains: “The last act in the drama of mutual contacts between the Vienna Secession, the Prague Mánes and the Cracow ‘Sztuka’

had already been written by history: it was punctuated by the outbreak of World War I, the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian empire and the recovery of national sovereignty by the Czechs and the Poles.”

See Krzysztofowicz-Kozakowska and Mizia, “‘Sztuka’, ‘Wiener Secession’, ‘Mánes’, pp. 217, 239 and 256.

and artistic traditions.⁸⁷ Nevertheless, numerous scholars and artists in Krakow considered Polish arts an integral part of the European legacy.⁸⁸ As a result of this cultural exchange, Polish arts flourished between 1890 and 1918, especially the graphic arts. This period of Polish Modernism has come to be known as “Young Poland.”⁸⁹ Even after Poland regained its independence, connections with artistic trends developed in other parts of Europe did not cease. This exchange promoted the contact of many local artists with the Post-Impressionist, Symbolist, and Expressionist movements, especially those developed in cities such as Munich, Berlin, Vienna, Prague and Paris.⁹⁰

During the first two decades of the twentieth century, various Polish artists started their artistic training at schools in Krakow and Warsaw, and many of them continued studying in other countries, including Austria, France, Germany, Italy and Russia, facilitating the integration of new artistic trends into Polish arts.⁹¹ Such was the case of Wojciech Weiss, Kazimierz Sichulski and Xawery Dunikowski, who were Jan Komski’s professors at the Academy of Fine Arts. After traveling to France and Italy, Weiss, for example, developed an interest in French Post-Impressionism that was evident in his paintings.⁹² In addition, his later graphic works were influenced by Francisco de Goya’s prints, Art Nouveau and the Vienna Secession (fig. 24), of which

87 During this period the art history studies formally became part of the academic curriculum in Krakow, and some scholars were influences by the art historical practices in Vienna and Berlin. However, the

“Polonization¨ of some scholars in the twentieth century in the long run caused a marginalization of Polish art history that continued until the beginning of the twenty-first century. See Woiciech Bałus,

“A Marginalized Tradition? Polish Art History,” in: Art History and Visual Studies in Europe.

Transitional Discourses and National Frameworks, Matthew Rampley & Thierry Leiden [et al.], Boston 2012, pp. 439-449, pp. 439-440.

88 The scholar Jan Cavanaugh comments extensively the paradox of incorporating both national and international artistic trends, which seems to be in the center of the Polish Modernism. See Jan Cavanaugh, Out Looking in: Early Modern Polish Art, 1890-1918, Berkeley 2000, pp. 103-126.

89 See Irena Kossowska, “Graphic Art in Poland, 1890-1914,” in: Print Quarterly 16, n. 3, September 1999, pp. 229-246, p. 229. The graphic arts in Poland were also influenced by Japanese art, in particular Japanese woodcuts. Irenna Kossowa studies the cases of numerous Polish artists who were inspired by both Western and Eastern printing techniques.

90 For example, as a result of this connection between Polish arts and the rest of Europe, in 1924 was created the Paris Committee, also known as Kapiści or the Colourists. The members of this committee opened a section of the Academy of Fine Arts of Krakow in Paris during the same year. See Marek Bartelik, Early Polish Modern Art: Unity in Multiplicity, Manchester & New York, 2005, p. 56.

91 Kossowska, “Graphic Art in Poland,”p. 229. Jan Cavanaugh in her book explains some details about the artistic education at The Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow and The School of Fine Arts in Warsaw.

See Cavanaugh, Out Looking in, pp. 55-58.

92 Wojciech Weiss stayed in Paris between 1899 and 1900. In Paris he came to admire particularly Paul Cézanne’s paintings and Pierre Bonard’s paintings and prints. In 1901 studied at the Regio Istituto di Belle Arti in Florence, and in 1902 went to Rome and joined the Regio Istituto di Belle Arti. SeeWeiss Albrzykowska, Zofia, “The Prints of Wojciech Weiss,” in: Print Quarterly 6, n. 4, December 1989, pp.

403-413, pp. 405-408.

he became member in 1909.⁹³ Also influenced by the Vienna Secession, the artist Kazimierz Sichulski was especially known for his caricatures, illustrations and paintings depicting the Huzul tradition (figs. 25-26).⁹⁴ Xawery Dunikowski, on the other hand, developed a strong interest in sculpture, principally influenced by Rodin while Dunikowski was working with him in Paris.⁹⁵

Even though artistic exchange diminished during the First World War and right after Poland regained its independence, by the time Jan Komski started his art education in Krakow, cultural and artistic exchange was still permeating Polish arts.⁹⁶ In addition, when Komski joined the academy in 1934, foreign art students were studying in his school, including Russians, Ukrainians, Frenchmen and Italians.⁹⁷

When commenting on the teaching method of his professors, Jan Komski once stated: “My teachers were academic artists, who believed in a traditional approach to art education.”⁹⁸ While most professors in the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow were in touch with the artistic trends of Western and Central Europe and their own work was not strictly academic, the artistic education they gave was more traditional and structured. Therefore, students were required to learn about art history and classical references, composition, perspective and painting and drawing techniques before experimenting with other media and other less academic styles.⁹⁹ Jan Komski’s artistic style was influenced by his academic formation, but also by some of the artistic movements that developed in the first decades of the twentieth century.

93 Krzysztofowicz-Kozakowska and Mizia, “‘Sztuka’, ‘Wiener Secession’, ‘Mánes’”, p. 221.

94 Kossowska, “Graphic Art in Poland,” pp. 242 and 245. After studying at the Krakow Academy of Fine Arts, Kazimierz Sichulski studied at the Vienna Applied Arts School. See Jeremy Howard, Art Nouveau: International and National Styles in Europe, Manchester & New York, 1996. p.126.

95 Jürgen Kaumkötter, Der Tod hat nicht das letzte Wort. Kunst in der Katastrophe 1933-1945, Berlin 2015, p. 22. Andrew Ciechanowiecki states that, among the many Polish artists working in Paris during that time, the work of Xawery Dunikowski was particularly outstanding, because he was able to find an artistic style that eventually evolved from a “post-Rodinesque expressiveness to a personal,

aggressively monumental style.” See Andrew Ciechanowiecki, “Polish Art Treasures at the Royal Academy”, in: The Burlington Magazine 112, n. 803, Italian Sixteenth-Century Art outside Venice, February 1970, pp. 120-124, pp. 123-124.

96 The tendency of rescuing the ‘Polishness’ of culture and arts was still strong at the time, as opposed to other tendency that tried to understand the place of Poland between the Western and the Eastern part of Europe, and the relationship of Polish arts with the rest of the continent. After the independence Poland had the chance to make visible its arts in the rest of Europe. For example, in 1920 the country participated for the first time in the XII Venice Biennale, and was represented by 33 Polish artists, among them three professors of Komski: Wojciech Weiss, Xawery Dunikowski and Władysław Jarocki. See Bartelik, Early Polish Modern Art, pp. 44 and 50.

97 Kuzmack, “Interview with John Komski June 7, 1990,” p. 4.

98 Jan Komski quoted in: Rosenbush Methner and Van Bork, “Jan Mieczslaw Komski,” p.6.

99 When looking Komski’s book of grades one can notice this tendency in the way classes were arranged in the curriculum. See Komski, Book of Grades Academic Years 1934-1939, No. 103, Archives of the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow, Poland (December 11, 2015).

3.2. Artists in Auschwitz: The Case of the Polish Catholic Political Prisoners