Abstract

The Krakow Group, established in 1932 by students of the Academy of Fine Arts in Kracow, was one of the most important artistic milieus in Poland in the 20th century. The Group had any strictly specific artistic program; however, many members have adhered to the abstraction coming from late cubism. The Group was connected with the famous avantgarde Cricot Theatre, and worked until 1937. Many members shared leftist outlook; some of them belonged to the Polish Communist Party, and a few of theirs works expressed theirs social-political attitudes of this time. Before the end of the German occupation, members of the Group assembled themselves around the conspiracy Tadeusz Kantor’s theatre. After the war, at the turn of the 1948/49, the Group organized in Kracow the First Exhibition of the Modern Art, but the event was soon closed by the communist authorities, reluctantly seeing the new trends in art. For many years this exhibition was the only one manife-station of the artistic avant-garde in post-war Poland. Officially, the Group was reactivated in 1957 (as the 2ndKracow Group). The artists continued pre-war artistic guidelines and traditions, becoming one of the most important artistic milieus in post-war Poland. Before 1939, as well as after 1945, the Jews and artists of Jewish origin played crucial role in the Group’s activity, both: artistic and political. Such artists like Jonah Stern, Sasha Blonder, Berta Grünberg, Erna Rosenstein, Moses Schwanenfeldare perceived the most important personalities in the modern Polish art of 20th century. I would like to present the Jewish artists of the Kracow Group with a special focus on political connotations in theirs works, as well as – in some cases – reminiscences of the Holocaust. The lecture will be illustrated by works from the state and pri-vate collections in Poland.