Andrzej Pronaszko – znany scenograf i zapomniany malarz

English Title: Andrzej Pronaszko – the well-known stage designerand forgotten painter

In: Biuletyn Historii Sztuki, 58 (1994), Nr. 1-2. pp. 101-113

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Andrzej Pronaszko is known primarily as an outstanding stage designer. Few people realize that he also attained considerable achievements in painting which he had pursued since childhood. His earliest works like "Self Portrait against a Tree Branche" is an example of true modernism. From 1910 to 1913 (after only a year of incompleted studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow), Pronaszko executed oil and water colour works on various themes: portraits, landscapes, genre scenes, as well as, religious and symbolic compositions. These works are known today only from their titles listed in exhibition catalogues. From 1913 to 1916 he painted two series: "From a Mental Asylum" and "Burial". An existing work from the first series is the water colour "Insane Pilgrim", and from the second is a water colour and gouache "Procession". The last work is typical tor its marked contour also occurring in Pronaszko’s later works from 1916-1917. His gouaches "Deposition from the Cross" (now lost) and "Monk" were apparently projects tor mosaics or stained glass windows. A tapering and almost secessionist line is typical for gouaches from the years 1918-1920 including "The Wedding" and "Annual Guests", both lost, and a poster for the "Second Expressionist Exhibition" held in 1918. A similar line appears in Pronaszko’s drawings from the same period, some of which may have been projects for woodcuts. The artist also worked in the area of graphic arts and designed book covers. Works from 1921: "The Flight of Mary to Egypt" or "Portrait of the Wife" are more monochromatic, with a grey-blue tonality closer to Cubism. In 1926 Pronaszko joined the “Praesens” group. From that moment on, his canvases reveal a pervasive geometrization ot figures and a limited range of colours. Such compositions as the lost "Musicians" are closer to synthetic Cubism while the "Scene" ("Constructivist Composition") can be connected with works by the Purists. Musical instruments, flowers and various objects were now the predominant themes of the artist’s compositions from 1949-1953; these works were executed after a long interval caused by his involvement with stage designing. It seems worthwhile to add that throughout an entire period of experimentation with form, Pronaszko painted realistic landscapes, mainly in the South of France and Italy, which were displayed at numerous exhibitions held from 1929 to 1935.