Vintage Polish Posters | Vabank | Pagowski

Vabank is a 1981 Polish comedy heist film written and directed by Juliusz Machulski, set in 1934 Warsaw (although actually filmed in Łódź and Piotrków Trybunalski). The film received several awards and nominations, among them Polish Film Festival, 1981, Best Debut Director, and Mystfest, 1982, Best Film. The film’s name is Polish for Va banque, a gambling term for when one is betting to win or lose all. The poster artist Andrzej Pagowski was born in Warsaw, Poland, in 1953 and is an artist specializing in graphic design and poster art. Pągowski graduated from The State University of Fine Arts in Poznan in 1978 and began to design posters, which has since become his main interest. In addition to posters, he designs theatrical settings, prints and catalogs. One of the younger artists of Polish School of Posters, in 1990 he created his own graphic studio, STUDIO P, which developed into an advertising agency in 1993 and continues in operation today. In 1992, he became art director of the Polish edition of Playboy magazine.^. His work is characterized by a “flick of the wrist” style, including spontaneous, handwritten details and typography. His art can be found in many European museums as well as the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. He also has had one-man shows in Stockholm, Paris, London and Warsaw.