The exhibition, entitled Andrzej Wróblewski (1927-1957): In the First Person, is set to be displayed at St. Mark's Square in Venice, specifically on the northern side of the Procuratie Vecchie, an area steeped in historical significance.
Curated by Anna Muszyńska, the project emerges from the initiative of the Starak Family Foundation. It has been selected as one of the 30 accompanying events at the Biennale by curator Adriano Pedrosa, marking the 60th International Art Exhibition in Venice.
Wróblewski's journey as an artist was marked by a strong engagement with socialist realism, yet he was equally fascinated by the boundaries of abstraction. He studied at the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts and the Jagiellonian University in southern Poland, exploring beyond the colorism of the Capists.
Wróblewski, born on June 15, 1927, in Vilnius, passed away at the young age of 29 during a trip to the Tatra Mountains, likely due to an epileptic seizure.
Despite his brief life, he left a profound impact on postwar Polish painting. His father, Bronisław Wróblewski, was a rector at the University of Vilnius, and his mother, Krystyna, a graphic artist, guided his early artistic endeavors.
The war years deeply influenced Wróblewski. At the age of 14, he witnessed his father's death due to a heart attack during an inspection by German soldiers. This period of turmoil is vividly captured in his works, most notably in the 1949 series entitled Executions, showcasing the trauma and human degradation caused by war.
His paintings such as Son and Dead Mother and Mother with Dead Son are particularly striking, characterized by their use of intense blue hues.
A socially sensitive individual, Wróblewski founded the Self-Education Group at the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts in 1948, a testament to his commitment to artistic and intellectual growth.
He ventured into experimental painting, with works reflecting a kaleidoscopic vision of the cosmos exhibited at the First Exhibition of Modern Art.
In 1950, Wróblewski joined the Faculty of Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts, but his expressive works faced resistance from communist critics. This period was a challenging one for the artist, as he grappled with a sense of alienation and disillusionment.
Despite these challenges, Wróblewski found solace in family life. He married Teresa Reutt, a graduate in classical philology, and was a father to a son and twin daughters.
Returning to figurative painting, he depicted scenes of everyday life and motherhood, with his 1956 series Chairing critically portraying life in communist-era Poland.
The artist's international recognition came posthumously. His first solo exhibition abroad, To the Margin and Back, was held in 2010 at the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
Today, Wróblewski's works are highly valued, with paintings like Two Married Women sold for over PLN 13 million (EUR 3 million, USD 3.2 million) in 2021.
Joanna Mytkowska, head of the Warsaw Museum of Modern Art, highlighted Wróblewski's tension between abstraction and figuration, modernity and socialist realism, and his political engagement. His enduring legacy is a testament to the complex narrative of Polish art and history.
(rt/gs)
Source: PAP
