Władysław Strzemiński

Painter. Born 1893 in Minsk into a family of Polish gentry, his father is a Lieutenant-Colonel officer of the Tsarist Army. Parents imagine him a military career, 1904-11 studies at the Tsar Alexandre II Cadet School in Moscow. 1911-14 studies at The Tsar Nicholaus Military School of Engineering (Voyennoe Inzhyneryinoe Uchylishche) in Petersburg, gains wide knowledge in the history of architecture and military construction. July 1914, shortly afler graduating, delegated as an officer of sappers to the Osowiec fortress in the Bialystok District; during WWI takes part in military operations on the Eastern Front, in command of a sappers' unit. May 1916 seriously injured by the explosion of a grenade in trenches, his eyeball injured, and right thigh and left forearm amputated in Prochorov Hospital in Moscow, what ruins his hopes for a military career, he is to use crutches till the end of his life. Meets his future wife Katarzyna Kobro who is a sister of mercy in the hospital and intends to study sculpture.

1917 fascinated by the private art collection of the factory owner Shchukin in Moscow, which includes a wide variety of French paintings from Impressionism to Cubism. Probably starts to study history and theory of art, also inspired by the artistic events in the wake of the October Revolution. May-November 1918 takes part in the meetings of the Subsection of Art and Artistic Industry, headed by Tatlin, within the framework of IZO Narkompros; the group includes Malevich and Pevsner. Autumn 1918 starts studying in the First Free Artistic Studios (SVOMAS, Svobodniye Masterskiye), opened in September in the old Strogonov School in Moscow; meets Kobro there again; later in 1919 leaves the school without graduation. December 1918 his paintings are among the ones purchased by IZO Narkompros for the prospective Museum of Artistic Culture in Petersburg. 1919 takes part in agitprop activities; February 1919 with Ciechanowski and the local IZO director Vsevolod Dmitrev designed the decoration of the Minsk city to celebrate the first anniversary of The Red Army. February 1919 nominated (together with Rodchenko) to the Moscow Committee of Art and Artistic Industry, which must have been an equivalent of the IZO Narkompros Subsection, in which he worked in the previous year. Together with Pevsner he directs The All-Russian Central Office of Exhibitions (Vsserossyiskoye Tsentralnoye Vystavochnoe Byuro), the institution founded within the IZO framework to organize exhibitions all over the country. Shows his paintings at the VIII exhibition in Moscow.

Autumn 1919 moves to Smolensk. Works as an instructor of the Subsection of Art in the Smolensk District Department of People's Education (GubONO, Gubernskiy Otdel Narodnogo Obrazovanya). December 1919 participates in an exhibition of local and Moscow-based artists, organized by Malevich. Takes part in the Manovich's circle which later forms the UNOVIS group. First half 1920 he is the director of the Section of Art of the Joint Departments of Museums and Fine Arts (Podotdel muzeyev y izobrazitelnykh iskustv) affiliated with GubONO; as a representative of the section he is made the secretary of the Arts Council, whose first meeting takes place in April 1920, where he presents the far left-wing views. March 1920 shows ten works at an exhibition in Smolensk, including sketches for the scenery of Mayakovsky's 'Buffo Mystery Play'; works are later selected for the presentation in the Museums of Artistic Culture (MCHK, Muzeya Khudozhestvennoy Kultury). Summer 1920 Kobro comes to Smolensk; together they supervise the IZO Studio GubONO, affiliated with UNOVIS; and share studio on the main street of Smolensk (Bolshaya Sovetskaya). Malevich living in nearby Vitebsk often visits Smolensk; together they teach the principles of Cubism and Suprematism. 1920 exhibits with the UNOVIS group in Moscow. 1921 designs political posters with Kobro for the Russian Telegraphic Agency (ROSTA) which is affiliated to the same art section in Narkompros as the IZO. March 1921 takes part in a one-day show of UNOVIS in Vitebsk. Late 1921 or early 1922 marries Kobro before the registrar, and they "smuggle themselves" into Poland, after IZO Narkompros is restructured in October 1921 giving up its control to central political institutions pursuing the Bolshevik propaganda.

1922 the Strzemińskis spend a few weeks in the police station after illegal crossing of the state border. They first settle in Vilnius where Strzemiński's family had been living after his father's death. He teaches and lectures at Major Lukasinski Military Courses. October 1922 one of his paintings is shown at First Russian Art Exhibition in Berlin. His critical review of the development of Soviet art, "O sztuce rosyjskiej - notatki" [On Russian Art - Notes], gets published in two parts by Zwrotnica (November issue, and issue 4), the magazine edited by Peiper, his future long-time friend. Kobro leaves Vilnius, since she doesn't speak Polish, suffered from long periods of forced inactivity, and had to cope with her husband's family who were unfavorable towards her; moves to her relatives in Riga.

1923 he moves to Wilejka Powiatowa in search of a permanent job after the closure of the Major Lukasiewicz Courses. Till about mid-1924 he teaches drawing at the Henryk Sienkiewicz State High School drawing. Paints the synthetic, post-suprematist and post-cubist compositions, early realizations of the nascent theory of Unism. Starts to collaborate with Kairiūkštis, whom he probably met in Moscow; May 1923 in Vilnius they organise the first Polish exhibition of Constructivist art, The New Art Exhibition; Henryk Stażewski, Mieczysław Szczuka, and Teresa Żarnowerówna participate among others; Strzemiński writes an exhibition review for Zwrotnica. March 1924 co-founds the Constructivist Blok group, marked by the publication of the first issue of the 'Blok' magazine edited by Szczuka, and by the group exhibition in a Warsaw automobile showroom Laurin-Clement. Before the opening, Kobro probably comes from Riga for a short time; then in July Strzemiński visits her in Riga to have a church wedding, which grants her a Polish citizenship.

Late summer 1924 they move to Szczekociny; he teaches drawing at the Co-educational High School of the District Department of the Wloszczowski Regional Council, possibly at the suggestion of the headmaster of the school, Adam Nowinski, a devotee of the new art. Visits Warsaw many times, taking part in meetings and discussions of the Blok group, held usually in Szczuka's flat or in the offices of the Polish Art Club in the Polonia Hotel. Remembering Moscow collections of modern art and their role in the artistic education of the people, Strzemiński makes the first, yet unsuccessful, attempt to organize a similar collection in Poland; in February 1931 letter to Julian Przyboś he writes that he "suggested to the members of the Blok that such a museum should be organized, but to no avail, because Szczuka was afraid of the technical and the painterly matters, of the painterly culture". In November-December 1924 issue of Blok he publishes an article "B=2", which is considered to be the first formulation of the theory of Unism; there he specifies what makes his views different from Szczuka's utilitarian theory. Exhibits with Blok group in Riga, maybe also in Brussels and Tallin. Opposing Malevich's Suprematism both in theory and practice, he produces monochromatic paintings, based on the principles of his own system, as Unistic (flat) Compositions. His name appears for the first time among the names of Polish Futurists in a magazine 'Rivista d'arte futurista' published in the West. 1925 Blok disintegrates: Strzemiński doesn't take part in subsequent exhibitions and publications of the group. He is more attracted to the artists around the Krakow-based Zwrotnica, designs covers for its publications, including poetry books by Przyboś, whom he met earlier in the editorial office of the magazine, and becomes long-lasting collaborator and friend. Meets Szymon Syrkus and Bohdan Lachert, young architects from Warsaw. 1925 his painting is exhibited in MCHK (The Tretyakov Gallery) in Moscow together with the works by Sterenberg, Larionov, Drevin, Rozanova, and Altman. January-February 1926 presents his works at the International Theatre Exhibition in New York. Probably designs the whole art work for the sixth issue of Zwrotnica; in the following issues publishes reviews and polemical notes on modern art. Exhibits twice with the Artists' Guild Jednorog (Unicorn), a group of graduates of Krakow Academy, showing a series of Still Lifes and Landscapes paintings which stem from his structural analyses of Cubist paintings.

Summer 1926 the Strzemińskis move to Brzeziny near Łódź, and renew their contacts with Warsaw artists. He teaches drawing at the Stryjkowski High School of Humanities. October 1926 joins Praesens, the group of architects and painters founded by Syrkus earlier that year and including the former Blok members Stażewski and Kobro; participates at their exhibition in the Warsaw's Zacheta Gallery with a number of works: interior of the Sculptor's House designed with Epstein, a colour-design for Syrkus' 'Fur Shop' and for a church by Syrkus and Oderfeld, collaboration on the interior design of the Perskie Oko Theatre, and individual works: paintings on glass, book covers and illustrations; and contributes the catalogue text on functional painting and architecture. Returns to the idea of organizing a collection of modern art in Warsaw, drafts the statute (validated in September) of the Association of the Gallery of Modern Art, which functions for a short time, and only nominally, in the following year. Often visits Warsaw, staying usually at Lachert's. 1926 his first Architectural Compositions painted on canvas. January 1927 in a letter to Kairiūkštis he is critical about some of the painters from the Praesens group who supposedly wanted to "smuggle regard for modern art" by means of a compromise and a "kind of a contraband", "but actually the results will be the same as in Russia - temporary recognition and total neglect, because New Art should appear openly, with its face uncovered, it should stand unmasked and demand recognition not for its usefulness, but for its superiority". March 1927 Malevich visits Warsaw on his invitation, to show a selection of his works and lecture on new trends in art. April 1927 his first one-man exhibition is organized in the Polish Art Club; he lectures there about his artistic programme "Unizm i dualizm w sztuce" [Unism and Dualism in Art]; later published in the Summer issue of Droga magazine, and 1928 appears as a book entitled Unizm w malarstwie [Unism in Painting] in The Praesens Library series with the cover design by Stażewski. May 1927 shows two works at the Machine Age Exposition in New York: the lost Cafe and (together with Syrkus) the project for the Fur Shop, possibly the one presented earlier at an exhibition of the Praesens group.

Mid-1927 offered an attractive job in Koluszki where he has been teaching, and in order to avoid strenuous commuting, he moves with his wife to Zakowice. August/September he settles in Koluszki. Teaches drawing in two schools, the Co-educational High School on A. Mickiewicz Street, and the Girls' High School of Industry and Commerce. Soon he formulates and introduces his own educational programme for designers. November 1927 his painting from the MCHK collection Tools and Products of Industry is shown at the 'Novyje tecenija v isskustve' [New Tendencies in Art] exhibition in Leningrad. December 1927 exhibits in the City Art Gallery in Łódź with a group of local painters. Early 1928 correspondence with van Doesburg whose text along with articles by Strzemiński and others, is printed in the catalogue of the Modernists' Salon, opened in Warsaw in March, where Strzemiński exhibited several of his paintings from a series of studies on Cubism, five abstract compositions, a chair and a few drawings. 1928 publishes three articles on contemporary architecture in the Warsaw biweekly 'XX Century' edited by Stanislaw Baczynski; in "Przedmiot iprzestrzeri" [Object and Space] he introduces the notion of "the calculatory rhythm of a spatial phenomenon", a system different from the "system of contrasts", and which leads to the unity of object and space. 1928 receives the 2nd prize from the Polish Architect's Association for the design of a tobacco kiosk made with Kobro. November 1928 takes part in the 1st Exhibition of the Polish Artists' Union (ZZPAP) in Warsaw, repeated in January in Krakow (there with 29 works including still-lifes, landscapes, abstract paintings and drawings). Exhibits three paintings, among them Architectural Composition 2a and 4a, with the Praesens group at the Autumn Salon in Paris. December 1928 participates in an international show in Brussels, The Hague, and Amsterdam, organized by the Society for the Promotion of Polish Art Abroad (TOSSPO); exhibits again one of his paintings on glass and Still Life. 1929 the joint Praesens project of the interior design for the pavillions and exhibitions halls at the National Exhibition (PWK) in Poznan is his last attempt to come in terms with the group since by now it is dominated by Functionalists. June 1929 exhibits in Łódź with the Start group. 1929 designs graphic arrangements for Przyboś' poems. 1929 works on the programme of the new magazine 'Europa', edited by Stanislaw Baczynski, devoted to social and political matters, and which he wants to be the platform of the avant-garde; the first issue appears in two editions: in May and in September; he views the latter as a total disgrace, however keeps using the magazine as a means of popularizing the theory and the art of the avant-garde. June 1929 writes Przyboś about his plans to leave the Praesens group and prospects of organizing a new group "based on the broader principle of uniting all modernity - poetry, art, architecture". Autumn 1929 his and Kobro's book Kompozyqa przestrzeni. Obliczenia rytmu czasoprzestrzennego [Space Composition. Time-Space Rhythm and its Calculations] goes to print; corresponds with Georges Vantongerloo in connection with the book. Late autumn 1929 forms a new group, a.r. (real avant-garde) with Kobro and Stażewski; Przyboś joins in December, and Jan Brzekowski next year. Writes "Bilans Modernizmu" [The Summing-up of Modernism], a brief recapitulation of his artistic career and the work of the Praesens group, and "Snobizm a Modernizm" [Snobism and Modernism] article on Szczuka's photo-montages for Europa. In the neighbouring Łódź he finds favourable conditions for locating the collection of modern art and starts to put it into life, managing to find support in the group and in Przedaw Smolik, the chairman of the Department of Education and Culture of the Municipal Council. 1929 paints more Architectural Compositions, and ultimately rejects the problem of "architectonics in painting" and "its dramatic character resulting from the contrast of forms", in favour of further search for the "organic unity" of the painting as a flat quadrangle. December 1929 physical exhaustion.

Dies 1952 in Łódź.

Comprehensive resource on Strzemiński
Irena Kossowska on Strzemiński Remigiusz Grzela: Katarzyna Kobro i Wladyslaw Strzeminski. Rozmowa z ich córką – Niką, 2005 (Polish)

See also: Poland#Constructivists