Despite the limitations placed on artists under the Communist regime, graphic arts continued to flourish. It is this area that has greatly contributed to the advancement of Polish art. This book explores the work produced by an eclectic selection of artists from many generations, working in a variety of mediums including fine art printmaking, poster art, and drawing. This book exemplifies how the traditions of excellence established over the past century continue to flourish as a major part of one of the most exciting art scenes in Europe.

Showcasing the extraordinary achievements of the proponents of Polish modernism from the 1890s to 1918, this ground-breaking book brings together pioneering research with beautiful imagery. Mloda Polska, or Young Poland, embraced the integration of fine and applied arts, motivated by a desire to establish a distinctive national style at a time of political uncertainty. Patriotic values were expressed through a diverse visual language that was fuelled by national identity, but also looked beyond Poland to Western Europe and the influences of Impressionism, Expressionism, Symbolism, Art Nouveau, while also displaying parallels with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. Young Poland's painting has been discussed within an international arena, but its decorative arts and architecture has yet to enjoy broad exposure. Here, for the first time, the considerable achievements of the movement's applied artists will be discussed, both from a national and international perspective. Highlighting Young Poland's integration of fine and decorative arts, the movement's ideological, stylistic and formal commonalities with British Arts and Crafts, and the vision of Ruskin and Morris, will be drawn out to provide fascinating insights for Western and Eastern audiences alike.

Piotr Uklanski, a New York based artist, has put together a most surprising and at the same time simple series of pictures. With them he has created an art book consisting of 160 portraits of movie actors playing Nazis. This volume is as much about history as it is about the industry of entertainment. In 1998, The Observer, London, wrote about these compelling and at the same time enstranging portraits: "If you are an actor, chances are that you will play a Nazi, or at least a cruel German officer in the Second World War. How do you make yourself look the part? First comes the matter of expression. Mug up on verbal cliches: 'ice-cold eyes', 'thin, compressed lips', with if possible, 'the hint of cynical smile playing around the corners of the mouth'. An 'air of cold command', rigid jaw muscles denoting 'utter ruthlessness', a tiny flare of nostrils to suggest unspeakable depths of sadism. Fine! Now put on the gear: the tunic with its collar-tabs of SS lightning flashes, the tall black cap with eagle, swastika and death's head. Stunning! Now all you need is that gargling accent unlike any noise ever uttered by a real German."

An in-depth look at Polish painting with profiles of 48 notable Polish artists.

This groundbreaking work examines four avant-garde groups that emerged in Poland towards the end of World War I; the Poznan Expressionists, the Young Yiddish, the Formists, and the Futurists. It is the first extensive study to bring the four groups together, and in doing so it establishes interconnections between them, and discusses their work in light of socio-political and cultural currents in Poland and wider Europe in the interwar period.

The traditions of Polish graphic art and the influences of folk culture, nationalism, and European art movements are evidenced in a collection of posters created by Polish artists from 1961 to 1977