The Great Painters
Tadeusz Makowski
- an eternally searching painter of poetic paintings
Tadeusz Makowski (1882-1932)
His work is perfectly distinct and "separate" both against the background of Polish interwar painting and the whole European contemporary art. As a citizen of two cultures (raised on folk art and medieval Krakow), he combined Slavic emotionality with the experience of French Cubism. He fought for his own distinct style for years, persistently and humbly. They spoke of him: "a great loner", "a fanatic of art and work". - Tadeusz Makowski, a charmingly modest and good man, subordinated his whole life to painting.
ILLUSTRATOR
EXCELLENT COLORIST
PICTURES LIKE ILLUSTRATIONS OF A FAIRY TALE
THE MOTIF OF THE FIGURE-SPOKE CHARACTER
Tadeusz Makowski
1882
(29 January) Tadeusz Makowski, son of Stanisław (railway clerk) and Petronella, was born in Oświęcim.
1890
He got burned - immobilized by illness at home, started drawing and it became his favourite pastime (there were no artistic traditions in the family until now). In primary school, he also showed his ability to mathematics, with which his practical father had hopes for the future. The need to further educate his son prompted the family to move.
1894
Father opened a café at the corner of Dominikańska and Grodzka Street in Krakow, which became their source of income, while Tadeusz Makowski started his studies at St. Anne's Middle School in Krakow
1902
entered the Faculty of Philosophy of the Jagiellonian University (contrary to his father's dreams, the humanistic middle school confirmed the boy's interest in literature and art)
1903
He started parallel studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow with Józef Mehoffer and J. Stanislawski, continuing his university studies for 4 years, which resulted in an erudition that distinguished him from his peers. During his studies, Tadeusz Makowski took part in the preparation of performances for the literary cabaret "Zielony Balonik", he designs puppets for cribs.
1908
graduated with a silver medal from the Academy of Fine Arts and went to Paris
1911
has made friends with La Fauconier and a group of cubists from Montparnasse
1913
He exhibited cubist paintings in the Salon of Independents and started to keep a diary, the records of which testify to the serious, almost religious treatment of the painter's vocation and the incredible modesty of Tadeusz Makowski. He did not start a family, but friendship began to play an increasingly important role in his life
1914
1923
he joined an international painting group with Marcel Gromair (1892-1971), Jules Pascin (1893-1930) and Pierre Krohg (1889-1965), among others
1925
illustrated by "Pastorałki"Tytus Czyżewski
1927
He painted "Return from school", where for the first time he took on child silhouettes in triangular hats, which are now the "hallmark" of his painting. This year saw the first individual exhibition of Tadeusz Makowski at the Berta Weill Gallery.
1928
his second exhibition at Berta Weill's was a success and determined his position in the environment
1930
he started a series of paintings: "Shoemaker", "Shooter", "Fisherman"
1932
On 1 November Tadeusz Makowski died of a stroke in the hospital of Hotel Dieu in Paris. The sudden and unexpected death of the painter at the age of 50, at the threshold of his career, was a shock to his friends. The impression of injustice, the disproportion between the real value of the work of the silent artist and the scant recognition and lack of publicity prevailed. The "Society of Friends of Tadeusz Makowski" was spontaneously formed, with M. Gromair and the critic L.L. Martin at the head. Its statutory goal was: "to do everything possible to give the audience an idea of Makowski's true face and the size of his work". The posthumous exhibition in the Salon of Independents (1933) and the exhibition at the 20th Venice Biennale (1936) brought about a success that the artist did not live to see. The war interrupted the association's activity, but the canvases, deposited in a Parisian furniture store, survived - in 1954 Tadeusz Makowski finally returned to Poland - with his paintings.
Interesting facts:
Guitar and violin
Guitar and Tadeusz Makowski often painted players and musical children. He was very musical himself, playing the guitar and violin.
Monastery cell
Loneliness, Spartan living conditions, lack of heating, did not prevent him from working hard. Friends found him once sick, covered with canvases of paintings. He painted constantly, as if in a fever, his studio was like a monastery cell - he devoted himself to painting, not paying attention to the quality of life.
The manuscript found in...
The painter's diary, kept from 1912 to 1931, remains the most valuable source of information about his life and art, as well as a fascinating reading, a testimony to a rare, insightful self-analysis of his own work. Even the artist's closest friends did not know about the existence of the Diary, and after his death the manuscript was considered lost. It was probably hidden in the collection of Maria Mickiewiczówna, the poet's granddaughter, who was friends with the painter. The manuscript was followed by Professor Władysław Jaworska, the most faithful researcher of Tadeusz Makowski's artistic legacy, in a Parisian antique shop in 1956. Today, the priceless manuscript is kept in the Library of the Institute of Art PAN in Warsaw.
About the art of Tadeusz Makowski:
Tadeusz Makowski's poetic and mysterious vision: the world of children, animals and wooden puppets performing strange rituals - surprises us with its "lyrical power" and at the same time with the rigour of composition and the courage of synthesis. His art lies between construction and emotion, between the rhythm of form and brightness of colours, between melancholy and intellect. Sentimentality is subjected here to the rigor of geometry and the grotesque illustrates the eternal drama of existence.
„Pastorałki” Tytusa Czyżewskiego, wydane w styczniu 1925 przez Polskie Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Książki w Paryżu, uchodzą za arcydzieło polskiej typografii. Bibliofilską edycję 520 egzemplarzy, na czerpanym papierze, ozdobiono drzeworytami Tadeusza Makowskiego. Ilustracje te łączą prymitywny, kanciasty kontur z lirycznym wdziękiem, franciszkańską pobożność z poczuciem humoru. Są – jak wzorowane na góralskich kolędach wiersze Czyżewskiego – udanym mariażem ludowej tradycji z nowoczesnym poczuciem formy. Lekcja podhalańskiego folkloru spotkała się z lekcją kubizmu, owocując wspaniałym rezultatem.
Tadeusz Makowski's paintings were distinguished by their emotionality, sense of poetry, and the refinement of colour. Some people saw in it the qualities of indigenous Polish, Slavic heritage brought by the artist to the Paris school
– Florent Fels
"Shoemaker", or rather "Sabotage sculptor" - as the author himself poetically translated the title - is considered to be the most splendid and representative image of Tadeusz Makowski from the mature period of his career. His poem entitled "Kopytka", Tadeusz Różewicz (1921-2014) dedicated to the memory of Tadeusz Makowski, a painter who died in France: .s
"Kopytka"
Czyje to kopytka
Czyje to kopytka
komu szyje buty
na tych kopytkach
stary szewc
na niebieskich aniołom
na złotych pszczołom
na czarnych kominiarzom
na czerwonych katom
wrósł stołek
jak huba w dąb
pod stołkiem
ni to butelka ni aniołek
szyjką świeci
pociągnie łyk
kopytka z miejsca ruszają
pociągnie drugi
kopytka do drzwi pukają
pociągnie trzeci
pełno tu ptaków i dzieci.
– Ignacy Witz
"Children with Turon" is one of the most beautiful paintings by Tadeusz Makowski. This composition of triangles, circles, cones and cylinders contains an extraordinary load of poetry and lyricism. Maybe it is the climate of festive nostalgia and the mood of a silver-golden glow, or maybe the tenderness with which children embrace their toys - it makes the painting look with emotion. You can also see perfectly well how dry the colourist was Tadeusz Makowski. "Children with turon" is a true colour symphony: mysterious brass browns, golden beiges, flickering grays - they seem to shine with their own, inner light.
– Roger Brielle, French critic
Malarstwo Tadeusza Makowskiego za jego życia było bardzo słabo znane w Polsce. Szersze „odkrycie” artysty nastąpiło dopiero w 1960, dzięki wielkiej wystawie retrospektywnej zorganizowanej w Warszawie przez prof. Władysławę Jaworską. A jednak, wśród młodego pokolenia malarzy Tadeusz Makowski był darzony niezwykłym szacunkiem i jego płótna kształtują wyobraźnię wielu młodych. Szczególny wpływ wywiera na twórczość przyszłych członków Grupy Krakowskiej, zwłaszcza Tadeusza Brzozowskiego (1918-1987), którego wczesne obrazy przywołują podobny Makowskiemu groteskowy świat, w którym ekspresyjna stylizacja postaci łączy się z wyrafinowaną kolorystyką.
– Tadeusz Makowski
Tadeusz Makowski in Museums:
Krakow: National Museum. You can admire there, among others..:
- „Autoportret z paletą i ptaszkiem” namalowany w 1919
- „W pracowni” namalowany w 1929
- „Dwaj mali przyjaciele” namalowany w 1929
- „Seans muzyczny” namalowany w 1930
- „Odlot jaskółek” namalowany w 1931
Warsaw: National Museum. You can admire there, among others..:
- „Portret Zygmunta Lubicz-Zaleskiego” namalowany w 1913
- „Pejzaż z domami” namalowany w 1913
- „Kosz z owocami” namalowany w 1913
- „Zagroda w Keranquernat” namalowany w 1917
- „Vita brevis, ars longa” namalowany w 1918
- „Zima” namalowany w 1918
- „Martwa natura z zielona misą i owocami” namalowany w 1918
- „Kapela dziecięca” namalowany w 1922
- „Dziewczynka w białym kapeluszu” namalowany w 1923
- „Pejzaż bretoński ze studnią” namalowany w 1923
- „Powrót ze szkoły” namalowany w 1927
- „Wiejskie podwórko” namalowany w 1928
- „Czworo dzieci z trąbą” namalowany w 1929
- „Dziecinne ZOO” namalowany w 1929
- „Jazz” namalowany w 1929
- „Kobziarze” namalowany w 1929
- „Dzieci z turoniem” namalowany w 1929
- „Szewc” namalowany w 1930
- „Rybak” namalowany w 1930
- „Kąpiel” namalowany w 1930
- „Mali Pierroci” namalowany w 1930
- „Na plaży” namalowany w 1930
- „Seans muzyczny” namalowany w 1930
- „Portret męski z fajkami” namalowany w 1930
- „Szermierze” namalowany w 1931
- „Teatr dziecięcy” namalowany w 1931
- „Dwoje dzieci z psem” namalowany w 1932
- „Skąpiec” namalowany w 1932
France:
- Paryż: Musée d’art. Moderne de la Ville de Paris – Musée National d’Art Moderne, Biblioteka Paryska
Czech Republic:
- Praga: Pamatnik Narodniho Pismnictvi
The Netherlands:
- Haga: Muzeum Miejskie
USA:
- Nowy Jork: Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences
Katowice: Silesian Museum. You can admire there, among others..:
- „Martwa natura z melonami” namalowany w 1928
Poznań: National Museum. You can admire there, among others..:
- „Maskarada” namalowany w 1928
- „Chłopczyk na łóżku” namalowany w 1930
- „W oberży” namalowany w 1931
Other Polish cities:
- Bochnia: Muzeum im. Prof. Stanisława Fischera
- Białystok: Muzeum Okręgowe
- Bytom: Muzeum Górnośląskie
- Bydgoszcz: Muzeum Okręgowe im. Leona Wyczółkowskiego
- Lublin: Muzeum Lubelskie
- Łódź: Muzeum Sztuki
- Szczecin: Muzeum Narodowe
- Wrocław: Muzeum Narodowe
Tadeusz Makowski (1882-1932)
- EXCELLENT COLORIST 100%
- PICTURES LIKE ILLUSTRATIONS OF A FAIRY TALE 100%
- THE MOTIF OF THE FIGURE-SPOKE CHARACTER 95%
- ILLUSTRATOR 100%
