Henryk Stażewski (1894, Warsaw – 1988, Warsaw), Relief No. 17, 1976

Provenance
private collection, Switzerland

Biography
Henryk Stażewski is a legend of avant-garde art in Poland. He studied at the School of Fine Arts in Warsaw from 1913 to 1920. Early in his career, he painted still lifes. For a time, he exhibited with the “Formists” group (1922). He also participated in the New Art Exhibition in Vilnius in 1923. During this period, his work was influenced by Constructivism. In addition to his paintings, he worked in book illustration, designed interiors and furnishings, and created stage sets—most of these were theoretical and studio works. The Polish and international avant-garde groups with which he exhibited and collaborated as a writer were, in order: “Blok” (1924–26), “Praesens” (1926–30), “Cercle et Carré” (1929–31), “Abstraction-Création” (1931–39), and “a.r.” (1932–39). He was also a member of the Circle of Advertising Graphic Artists (1933–39). In 1930, he co-organized a collection of works by international avant-garde artists intended for the museum in Łódź (now housed at the Museum of Art in Łódź). After World War II, he lived and worked in Warsaw. In the 1940s and 1950s, he attempted to adapt to the demands of figurative art. His drawings and paintings from this period depict themes of labor and construction, as well as monumental designs. After 1956, widely recognized as the patron of the Polish avant-garde, he devoted himself exclusively to abstraction with constructivist roots. He created series of works that were studies of planes, lines, and colors in various arrangements relative to one another. Beneath the appearance of cool perfection, he knew how to infuse them with the emotion of a direct touch, the trace of a hand. In addition to painting and related forms, such as collages, reliefs, and multiples, he created three-dimensional works and prints (he authorized silkscreen reproductions of his works).