Illustration: Wladyslaw Skoczylas. Tapestry design, 1925.
It would probably be wise to term Wladyslaw Skoczylas as a graphic artist or perhaps a fine art illustrator. He is seen as one of the leading, and by some even the principal purveyor of a national Polish cultural and artistic style within Poland during the first three decades of the twentieth century.
Skoczylas did not limit himself to pure graphics and illustration. He also produced fine art painting and design work for a number of textile based disciplines, including tapestry. However, it is Skoczylas graphic work, particularly in the genre of woodcut engraving, which inevitably influenced his work in other disciplines.
Illustration: Wladyslaw Skoczylas. Taniec (Dance) wood engraving, 1921.
The tapestry illustrated in this article was produced and shown at the 1925 Exposition des Arts Decoratifs held in Paris. Poland was strongly represented in Paris, particularly amongst the textile arts. Skoczylas himself won a gold medal at the Exposition.
Although only one tapestry is shown in this article, it seemed fitting to add some of the artists wood engraving work along side the tapestry to give an indication of how closely the tapestry piece fits into the general work and style of Skoczylas. There is no doubt that for an artist who, though Polish by culture, was born and raised as a citizen of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a Polish national style, or at least a personal style that reflected and represented strong elements of the Polish culture and people, was an important factor to take into account when discussing the work of Skoczylas. Across disciplines, a number of Polish cultural aspects kept appearing and reappearing in the artists work.
Illustration: Wladyslaw Skoczylas. Pochod Zbojnikow colour wood engraving, 1916.
After the First World War, a number of nation states either appeared on the map of Europe for the first time such as Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, or were reintroduced after a long and sustained foreign occupation. Such resurrected states as Ireland, Finland, the Baltic States and Poland had either to reintroduce their national cultures on to the world stage, or in some cases decide what that culture was to represent and reflect within a modern European context.
Poland, which had been split between the German, Austrian and Russian Empires, had never, despite concerted and systematic pressure, relinquished its identity as a nation state. Poles were always aware that the maintenance of a strong and relatively unified national identity would be the only means by which eventually a national state would be able to reappear at some time in the future. National arts and crafts were always seen as an important element in retaining a homogenous identity within a culture. This was particularly acute in the case of the Poles, who had to deal with different identities across three empires. Despite these diverse empires using different forms of force and persuasion to divide Poles and to try to foster an identity that put German, Austrian and Russian affiliation before that of Poland, there was always a consistent attachment towards that of a national Polish identity through both art and craft that was much more than mere romantic sentiment.
Illustration: Wladyslaw Skoczylas. Pochod Zbojnikow colour wood engraving, 1916.
Skoczylas, along with other artists, musicians, writers and critics, saw themselves as part of a national Polish identity. Through the artwork illustrations shown in this article, the artist used Polish themes which could and often did include costume, historical, mythological and geographic locations that, although scattered across three European empires, were all connected to a national consciousness.
Essentially Polish culture survived due to a constant reiteration of what it was to be Polish. This retained the essential quality that separated them from other members of the empires and helped to maintain a unique identity that was to influence and structure a new and revived Polish culture when eventually independence from Germany, Austria and Russia was achieved. By the time of the 1925 Paris Exposition and the public display of Skoczylas tapestry, Poland was a fully formed culture and nation state with a definite identity and history that, despite repeated attempts in the past to erase, had in fact succeeded in remaining largely intact and relatively robust and contemporary in outlook and style.
Illustration: Wladyslaw Skoczylas. Zbojinicy z Kotlikiem (Highwaymen with Cauldron) wood engraving.
Polish history between 1795 when it ceased to exist on the European map and 1918 when it reappeared is a salutary lesson to any contemporary non-represented or non-representative state or people. Culture through national arts and crafts may not in the end succeed in achieving self-representation in its own right. However, keeping a solid identity through culture and craft helps to maintain a distinction between the represented and the non-represented that is difficult to erase.
Further reading links:
National Style and the Nation-State: Design in Poland from the Vernacular Revival to the International Style (Studies in Design & Material Culture)
Grafika Polska: Estampes Polonaises - Polish Prints 1918-1939
Out Looking In: Early Modern Polish Art, 1890-1918
Polish Art and Architecture, 1890-1980: An outline history of Polish 20th century art and architecture
Symbolist Art in Poland
Out Looking In: Early Modern Polish Art, 1890-1918
Early Polish Modern Art: Unity in Multiplicity
The graphic arts in Poland, 1945-1955
Western Amerykanski: Polish Poster Art and the Western
The Law of the Looking Glass: Cinema in Poland, 1896-1939 (Polish and Polish American Studies)
