The Influence of Japanese Calligraphy and Ink Wash Painting on Contemporary Polish Artists

Joanna Zakrzewska, Ph.D.
(Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology in Gdańsk)

The 19th century fashion for Japanese culture in Europe founds its reflection in Poland among artists of a modernist movement called Young Poland, such as: Stanisław Wyspiański, Olga Boznańska, Leon Wyczółkowski, Jan Stanisławski, Józef Mehoffer, Józef Pankiewicz, Julian Fałat, Witold Wojtkiewicz or Wojciech Weiss. The biggest role in propagating Japanese culture in Poland has been played by Feliks “Manggha” Jasieński, who amassed an enormous collection of Japanese art (currently stored at the Manggha Museum in Cracow). However, Polish modernism is only the beginning of inspiration with Japanese art among Polish painters and graphic artists. In her research, the author tries to find and examine the influences of the Japanese calligraphy and Japanese ink wash painting on such Polish artists as: Józef Wilkoń, Jan Młodożeniec, Jan Lenica, Henryk Tomaszewski, Andrzej Strumiłło or Stanisław Fijałkowski, as well as on younger contemporary artists, i.a.: Wiesław Rosocha, Mieczysław Wasilewski, Zbigniew Urbalewicz, Mariusz Szmerdt, Marian Nowiński, Karol Bąk, Krystyna Siwek and others.