HENRYK TOMASZEWSKI (1914-2005) MAKSYM GORKI / BARBARZYNCY. 1976. 38x26 1/2 inches. Drukarnia Im. Rew. Pazdz. Condition A-: stain along lower left edge. After his studies at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts, Tomaszewski established himself as a free-lance graphic designer. He returned to the academy for three decades (1952-1985) and served as a professor. Widely considered to be one of the most influential Polish graphic designers and educators, he is also one of the most celebrated. Not only did he influence generations of young Polish artists, but his work is world renowned and he received many major awards for graphic design. He invented a minimalist, humorous style, childish in its simplicity, which enabled him to design a poster using only a few strokes of his pen. These images are pure visual communication, wherein a single object or gesture takes on a sense of drama or humor, and he has been referred to as a "spiritual son of the dadaists" (The Poster p. 319). Here he gives a wild evocation of the barbarians who (sarcastically) are the title characters in the play by Maxim Gorky. The near-abstract image of a head is overshadowed by the oversized tongue that breaks the frame of the poster. It is a wild image that implies the unusual nature of the play's characters. Polish Theatre 313.
