Sztuka II Rzeczypospolitej a kategoria nowoczesności

The article presents a wide panorama of modern art criticism in the Second Polish Republic. Iwona Luba points out that the notion of „modernism” is very capacious in relation to fine arts. It includes both the achievements of the symbolists and Young Poland art called „the golden hour of Polish art” as well as the works created in the 1920s and 1930s. Poles were present at the epicentre of modern art from the beginning. They participated in the Parisian avant-garde movements of the early 20th century with such prominent figures as Ludwik Markus, Eugeniusz Zag and Alicja Halicka. In Poland, however, they did not enjoy equally comfortable development conditions. There was no state patronage of arts in Poland prior to the Second Polish Republic’s establishment. The powers that partitioned the Commonwealth in the 18th century did not care about the development of Polish artists and the audience was not prepared for the trends coming from the West. Additionaly, the notion of modernity was seen from an alienated perspective. Cultural, administrative and technological innovations came to us with the invaders. Polish modernists such as the creators of the Polish Formists group dealt with this by making numerous references to sacred art, religious and folk motives. Later on they turned towards the search for modern classicism postulated strongly by Władysław Strzemiński. All these elements made the concept of modern avant-garde in Poland very much rooted in tradition. Our native category of modernity focused on the search for order and escape from chaos.