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Theory of Seeing
Brief Description
The first English translation of a radical and influential theory of art by a leader of Poland's avant-garde After World War II, socialist realism became the official state doctrine of art in Poland, with abstract works deemed counterrevolutionary and forbidden from public view. Wladyslaw Strzeminski, a...
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Theory of Seeing
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Description
The first English translation of a radical and influential theory of art by a leader of Poland's avant-garde
After World War II, socialist realism became the official state doctrine of art in Poland, with abstract works deemed counterrevolutionary and forbidden from public view. Wladyslaw Strzeminski, a leader of the Polish constructivist avant-garde, developed a treatise of visual consciousness as a foundation for progressive art, emphasizing art's autonomy. His application of Marxist aesthetics to the physiology of seeing is expressed in Theory of Seeing, which was published posthumously in 1958 by his students from notes collected from his lectures.
Preceding the comparable perspectives developed by Jacques Rancière, David Hockney, and John Berger, and even the cinema of Jean-Luc Godard, Strzeminski's Theory of Seeing introduces the radical and groundbreaking ideas of one of Poland's most important artists to English-speaking audiences for the first time.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781517920814
Publisher: University of Minnesota Press
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 09 September 2025
Country: United States
Imprint: University of Minnesota Press
Illustration: 217 black & white illustrations
Contributors:
- Foreword by Daniel Muzyczuk
Audience: Professional and scholarly
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 25.0mm
Width: 178.0mm
Height: 254.0mm
Weight: 454g
Pages: 312
About the Author
Wadysaw Strzemiski (18931952) was a prominent artist and theorist of Polish modernism. He collaborated with Rodchenko and Malevich, and, with the avant-garde sculptor Katarzyna Kobro, he cofounded the a.r. group, dedicated to advancing modern art. Their efforts led to the establishment of the International Collection of Modern Art at the Muzeum Sztuki in d, Poland, one of the world's first modern art museums. Strzemiski also contributed significantly to art education as a cofounder of the State Higher School of Fine Arts in d.
Klara Kemp-Welch is professor of modern and contemporary art at The Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London.
Wanda Kemp-Welch is an architect and translator of Wadysaw Strzemiski's 1928 treatise Unism in Painting.
Daniel Muzyczuk is interim director of Muzeum Sztuki in d, Poland.
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