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TheproofthatthepaintingoftheKPolishLondon”isgainingincreasedatten-
tion,especiallyontheBritishmarketandamongthecollectorsofEuropeancontem-
poraryart(collectionsofMatthewBatessonorMichaelSimonow)isthepublication
bytheformercuratoroftheNationalGalleryinEdinburgh,DouglasHall,entitled
ArtinExile.PolishPaintersinPost-WarBritain32.Behindthisbroadlysketchedtitle,
onecanfindonlytenseparateessaysdevotedtotheartisticoutputofPolishpainters.
Thelistincludesthefollowingnames:HenrykGotlib,AleksanderŻyw,MarianKra-
tochwil,ZdzisławRuszkowski,JózefHerman,StanisławFrenkiel,JankielAdler,Ta-
deuszPiotrPotworowski,MarianBohusz-SzyszkoandMarekŻuławski.Theauthor
merelyconsiderstheirartfromtheperspectiveoftheemigrationcontext,without
takingintoaccountitscomplexitiesandmulti-sidedness.Itshouldbenoted,howev-
er,thatthebackgroundsandconditions(take,e.g.theeducationalexperienceoffine
artsacademiesinBeirut,RomeandLondon)whichliedatthecoreoftheartcreated
byartistsgroupedaroundAnders(StanisławFrenkiel,MarianBohusz-Szyszko,Alicja
Drwęska)wereessentiallydifferentfromthatoftheartistswhocametotheBritish
Islesoftheirownchoice(Żuławski,Adler)orfromthatofthesoldier-artistswhose
wareffortwasconnectednotonlywithAndersbutalsowiththeactivitiesofthePol-
ish1stArmouredDivisionoperatinginWesternEuropeandScotland(JózefHerman,
AleksanderŻyw,ZdzisławRuszkowski,TadeuszPiotrPotworowski).Thefiguresof
PolishartistspresentedinHall’spublication,eventhoughextremelyimportantinthe
panoramaofPolishpost-warartontheBritishIsles,aremerelyafragmentofalarger
wholeandtheydonotstandfor(asissuggestedbythetitle)theentirePolishpost-war
artcreatedonemigrationinGreatBritain.
Today,itcanbesafelyclaimedthattheartisticactivitiesofthesoldier-artists
formedaroundAnderswerearesultofaconsciouseffort(firstthroughexhibitions
andthenthroughorganizededucation)onthesideoftheleadersofthePolishArmed
ForcesintheEastandofthePolishIICorpstosaveandtakecareoftheartistic
developmentofthePolishartistsandfuturestudentsatartisticacademies,whohad
beenrescuedfromSovietdeportations.Thepresentstudywasfacedwithtwoes-
sentialtasks:gettingtothearchivematerialsavedfromthemaelstromofwarand,
mostofall,findingworksofartcreatedintheyears1942-1948.Thefragmentariness
anddispersednatureoftheartcreatedbymanyPolishartistsaftertheyhadleftthe
SovietUnionmadeitdifficulttofind,identifyandfinallyevaluateitsmerits.Thus,
theartisticachievementofemigrationartistshasbeenrepeatedlyleftoutofthescope
ofacademicinterest,bothfromgeneralandmonographicstudiesonthehistoryof
Polishartinthe20thcentury.
TheworksonthesubjectofPolishexileartincludethebookentitledPolskie
galeriesztukiwLondyniewdrugiejpołowieXXwieku33,devotedtoPolishgalleriesof
contemporaryartinpost-warcapitalofGreatBritain,monographicstudiesonthe
32
Bristol2008.
33
J.W.Sienkiewicz,PolskiegaleriesztukiwLondyniewdrugiejpołowieXXwieku,Lublin-London2003.
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