Name/Title
John ColtraneEntry/Object ID
2010.60Description
Image of John Coltrane with a stylized saxaphone.
Music.Artwork Details
Medium
Offset lithograph on paperSubject Place
Country
PolandContinent
EuropeContext
Swierzy, who belongs to the select group of Poland's finest poster artists, was one of the founders of the Polish school of posters in the 1960s and 1970s. He says that that the choice of his future profession was influenced by his studying under the excellent graphic artist and teacher Jozef Mroszczak. It was him who talked Swierzy, then freshly graduated, into moving to Warsaw to take a job at the graphic section of Wydawnictwo Artystyczno-Graficzne, a state-owned art publishing house (nota bene, Swierzy remained with Wydawnictwo for many years). Swierzy has so far produced more than 1,500 posters- a number which is impressive and may make him the record holder. Many of them have been tremendously popular; the 1954 Mazowsze poster has had a million copies. While his main focus has been culture (theatre, film, circus and music), he has not shunned social and sports themes.Acquisition
Notes
Collection of DePaul Art Museum, gift of Patricia RosenbergMade/Created
Artist Information
Artist
Swierzy, WaldemarRole
Graphic ArtistDate made
1990Notes
He studied at the Cracow Academy of Fine Arts (Faculty of Graphic Arts in Katowice) in 1947-52. His professors there were Rafal Pomorski (painting) and Jozef Mroszczak (graphic arts). In 1965 he was appointed Head of the Graphic Design Studio at the National Higher School of Fine Arts in Poznan. In 1970 he gave a series of lectures on the graphic arts in Havana. In 1979-80 and 1985 he lectured respectively at the University of Mexico and the Hochschule der Kunste in West Berlin. In 1979 he was appointed Chairman of the International Poster Biennial in Warsaw and in 1994 was made Head of the Poster Studio at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts. In 1959 he won Grand Prix Toulouse-Lautrec at the 1. International Film Poster Exhibition in Versailles for the Czerwona Oberza / The Red Inn poster, followed by the third prize for Dwa pietra szczescia / Two Stories of Happiness at the same event in1962. In 1970 he received the 1st prize at the 10. Biennale de Sao Paulo and in 1975 and 1985 his posters for Ziemia obiecana / The Promised Land and Psy wojny / The Dogs of War earned him the first prizes at the "Hollywood Reporter" Key Art Awards Competition. A recipient of an honorary doctorate from the Cracow Academy of Fine Arts in 1997, he is also a member of the prestigious Aliance Graphique Internationale (AIG). His works are in the collections of the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, Kunstbibliothek in Berlin, Ermitage in St Petersburg, Institute of Contemporary Art in London, National Museum in Poznan, Wilanow Poster Museum and in a number of other prestigious museums in Poland and abroad.Ethnography
Cultural Region
Country
PolandContinent
EuropeNotes
Europe
PolandInscription/Signature/Marks
Type
SignatureLocation
BLCTranscription
SwierzyLanguage
PolishMaterial/Technique
in printType
InscriptionLocation
Top centerTranscription
"Wielcy Judzie Jazzu / Jazz Greats"Language
EnglishTranslation
Jazz GreatsLexicon
Getty AAT
Concept
posters, information artifacts, information forms (objects)Hierarchy Name
Information Forms (hierarchy name), Visual and Verbal Communication (hierarchy name)Facet
Objects FacetLOC Thesaurus for Graphic Materials
Music, Jazz musicians, PostersDimensions
Dimension Description
sheetWidth
26-3/4 inLength
38-1/4 in