About the artist
Franciszek Starowieyski remains to this day one of the most important and original Polish artists of the 20th century, his work, personality, charisma and the controversy he aroused fired the imagination of Poles for many years. He was involved in painting, drawing, graphic design, designed film and theater posters, being regarded as one of the most prominent representatives of the Polish Poster School, and created television and film set designs. He himself collected art, especially old art, being an expert in the history and art of the 17th and 18th centuries. Starowieyski often referred to his favorite Baroque era, which fascinated and inspired him. From the 1970s onward, he antidated his works, going back 300 years.
The year 2025 marks the 95th anniversary of the artist’s birth, which is the perfect opportunity to remind – not only Cracovians – of this figure, in a special exhibition full of props. Objects, things. objects and works. Franciszek Starowieyski’s ties with Kraków are mainly centered around family, education and social relations – several members of the Biberstein-Starowieyski family live in Kraków to this day, and it was here that the 19-year-old artist also tried his hand at the painting studio of Wojciech Weiss and Adam Marczyński within the walls of the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts between 1949 and 1952.
He was a figure of exceptional energy and brilliance, so it is almost impossible to separate his extraordinary, energizing personality from his artistic work – these two aspects interpenetrated, inextricably linked. He often used the nickname “John Bull,” which perfectly combined the qualities that defined the artist-affirmation of physical masculinity and strength, monumental exaggeration and unquestionable charm, and stage charisma. For many years, Franciszek Starowieyski himself created his myth best. He provoked critics and at the same time charmed the public. He showed his creative process through his famous paratheatrical performances, during which he created works called Drawing Theaters.
Throughout his life, he used the aesthetics of the 17th century. Most of Starowieyski’s works feature nudes, both female and male, monsters, skulls, Baroque ornaments and monumental group scenes. In his works, sexuality and eroticism are combined with the Baroque motif of transience.
Collectibles
Collecting has been a great passion of the artist throughout his life. His sphere of interest includes books, prints, furniture, wooden sculptures, animal and human skulls, objects, clocks, mirrors, engravings and vessels. Collected artifacts, craftsmanship became an inspiration, a source of study of the era, an element permanently associated with a rich and varied oeuvre.
Exhibition information:
Curators: Malgorzata and Marcin Golębiewski
Organizers: Palace of Art, Art Agenda Nova, East of Art Foundation
Collaboration / exhibition documentation: Katarzyna Mierzwińska
Exhibition arrangement: Lukasz Surowiec
opening: April 3, 2025, 6:00 pm
exhibition date: 3.04-11.05.2025
http://palac-sztuki.krakow.pl/
www.franciszekstarowieyski.pl
