Grants and Contracts Details
Description
This proposal seeks support for the completion of the research stage in the preparation of a
'critic of Polish art criticism published between 1875 and 1914. The period under
consideration witnessed the emergence and gradual mainstream acceptance of modernism in
Poland. The art criticism published during this time in Polish press reflected shifting attitudes
among critics and artists towards fundamental questions regarding meaning, purpose, value, and
function of art, which were brought on by new developments in art theory and practice at home and
abroad. The differences in attitude towards those issues focused on the tension between modernist
emphasis on individual freedom, unencumbered self-expression, and originality and the
conservative critics' insistence on social relevance and responsibility of art. The proposed anthology
will investigate how these two positions were articulated and negotiated across a range of texts
produced during the period under investigation. It will examine how the discussion of modem art
evolved and shifted over time in response to the changing situation, especially, how critical
discourse correlated with and was influenced by the activities of the artists, whose strategic
promotion of themselves and of modem art played a key role in transforming modernism from a
marginal to not just mainstream, but a dominant artistic tendency in Poland by the first decade of
the 20th century.
In particular, the anthology will focus on the impact of nationalism on evaluation,
ideological inscription, and validation of Polish modem art. The partition of Poland, which placed
the country under foreign occupation for the duration of the 19thcentury, forced Polish intellectuals
to assign unprecedented national significance to all aspects of cultural production. The commonly
held view that despite loss of statehood the nation lived on as long as its spirit found expression in
native art, literature, and music, informed all critical responses to Polish art. The widely held
perception of modem art as a foreign import, and therefore a potential threat to the integrity of national culture, played a key role in shaping the direction of the critical debates that surrounded the
emergence of Polish modernism. Although modem art was initially greeted with suspicion and even
outright hostility, by the final years of the 19thcentury, it not only became the program of Polish
academic art education, receiving full mainstream acceptance, but was also routinely portrayed as a
completely native phenomenon --the latest flowering of the national artistic genius. The anthology
will examine the process by which this radical shift in critical perception occurred. It will trace
changes in the conception of national art that took place within discussions surrounding Polish
modernism and investigate how different critics dealt with the issue of modem art's "foreign"
origins. It will also examine how Polish art's affinity with Western stylistic tendencies was turned
from a liability to an asset, and what role was played in this process by growing recognition of the
importance of international competition and heightened awareness of the reception received by
Polish art abroad. Within consideration of those issues, the relationship of between the critical
discourse and activities of the exhibiting society founded by the modernist artists, the Polish Artists
Association "Sztuka," will be of particular interest.
The proposed anthology will make available for the first time in English a representative
selection of Polish late 19thand early 20th century art criticism. More significantly, however, it will
provide a critical framework for examination of the discourse as a system of meaning and value
conferral. In other words it will function as a specific case study, but one with broad ramifications
for understanding of the impact of nationalism on the discursive inscription of modem art in the
region of Central and Eastern Europe and beyond. It will be organized into roughly chronological
sections preceded by introductory essays. The introduction to the volume as well as introductory
section essays will create a rich critical and historic context for the translated selections. Each
translated text will be preceded by a brief introduction that will link it to other statements within the
section and issues under consideration. Individual texts will be fully annotated to elucidate unfamiliar references and, where appropriate, accompanied by reproductions of cited works. The
volume will also contain a biographic appendix that will identify individual authors, trace their
affiliations and provide a brief overview of their activities as critics.
During the initial five months of the fellowship period, I will canvas the period literature
(newspapers, periodicals, journals, books) to finalize the selection of texts to be included in the
anthology. I have already completed a significant portion of this work and anticipate no problems in
being able to finish the selection process by the end of November 2003. As I make the final
selection, I will also finalize the organization of the anthology into sections and make decisions
regarding abridgement. The reminder of the fellowship period will be spent conducting background
research for the introductory essays, text annotations, and the bibliographic appendix. I will also
complete drafts of the introduction, introductory section essays, and introductions to individual text,
as well as identify necessary illustrations, and begin contacting prospective publishers. The bulk of
the research will be conducted in Krakow in affiliation with the Institute of Art History at the
Jagiellon University, with shorter visits to Wroclaw and Warsaw. At all stages of the project, I will
seek advice and input of my Polish colleagues. The final phase of the project involving translation
of the Polish texts into English will be carried out after the end of the fellowship period. I will seek
for this purpose additional funding ITom appropriate agencies and foundations, such as ACLS,
NEH, the Getty Foundation, the Clark Institute Research Grant Program, and the National Center
for Humanities.
Status | Finished |
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Effective start/end date | 7/1/03 → 12/31/04 |
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