Vintage Polish Posters | Liberation | Wieslaw Strebejko

Stanisław Wyspiański (1869–1907) was a Polish playwright, painter and poet, as well as interior and furniture designer. A patriotic writer, he created a series of symbolic, national dramas within the artistic philosophy of the Young Poland Movement. He was a friend of Paul Gaugin. A wedding party he attended was the inspiration for his widely acclaimed play Wesele (The Wedding). It is a deeply critical yet sarcastic exposé of Polish society of the 19th century. “Wesele” transformed Wyspianski from a moderately successful visual and verbal artist associated with the Young Poland movement into a national dramatist-visionary whose significance in Poland is comparable to Yeats‘ in Ireland, O’Neill‘s in America, or Maeterlinck‘s in Belgium. The drama made references to the contemporary situation in Polonia and depicted a powerless society. Although censorship barred the sale of copies of Wesele (The Wedding), the play was staged in the theatre. A successor play (the subject of this poster),  Wyzwolenie (“Liberation”), published two years later, contained ideological commentary on Wesele. Poster artist Wiesław Strebejko (1945-1994) was born in Poland. He was a graduate of the Secondary School of Fine Arts in Bydgoszcz. He specialized in posters and created over 250 of them. He gained recognition in Poland and abroad (mainly in France). A set designer and interior decorator by profession, he prepared sets for approximately 30 theater plays. Strebejko was one of the first to have a plaque on the Walk of Fame in the Old Market Square in Gorzów. Strebejko’s works are in the Poster Museum in Wilanów, the Lubusz Museum, in the archives of cultural institutions with which he collaborated and in private collections worldwide.