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Polski Plakat Teatralny - Polish Theater Poster 1899 - 1999,
by Krzysztof Dydo; available from Krzysztof Dydo Galeria Plakatu, Cracow (PL); (June 2000); 320 pages, 21 x 29 cm, 820 color reproductions; ISBN 83-905899-6-6; in polish and english; The standard work on polish theater posters, an incredibly rich selection from the best graphic design in Poland. Includes 70 pages of text, a detailed description of the posters and their designers, and index of plays and theaters and a theater poster bibliography. |
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Krzysztof Dydo, a long time collector and successful poster dealer in Cracow, Poland,
has published four major books on polish posters in the last years: The 100th anniversary of polish poster art
in 1993, Masters of polish poster art in 1995, Polish film poster in 1996, and now Polish theater poster in 2000,
and the next works are already in progress.
Each of the books is accompanied by a string of polish and international exhibitions, the present one
for example in 18 locations from Sweden to Hungary.
How can he do it, without an editorial staff or a major publishing house in his back? To begin with, most of the posters in his books are from his own collection, so he knows them well and has them at hand. In fact, as explained in the preface, he is just fulfilling himself a dream every collector has, to bring his treasures to light and have them enjoyed and admired by everybody. Second, the books have a clear concept: The introductory texts are followed by the poster illustrations arranged in chronological order, and finally there is an extensive 30 page apparatus, with biographical notes on the poster designers, a detailed description of the posters with designer, year, title, size and more, and registers for the name of the play and it's author, and for the theater where it played, and all this is topped of with a bibliography of polish and international theater posters. Together, this is an incredible amount of solid information, arranged in a compact and easily accessible way. It is such a pleasure and so easy, for example, to compare how different designers have treated the same subject, Tomaszewski and Stasys the Gombrowicz play "Historia", or Lenica, Rosocha and Adamczyk the various "Woyzeck"'s. You can do and verify your own theories on esthetic developments, starting from the very early Wyspianski poster in 1899 through the pre-war Gronowskis and ending with the last poster of the book, a very moving design by Jerzy Czerniawski for "Traviata". Also, it becomes clear from the book that the dire predictions about the death of the polish poster after the political changes of the early 1990's can be set aside, at least for the moment.
home other reviews page last revised on March 12, 2001 / this section is part of Rene Wanner's Poster Page / |
1930, Tadeusz Gronowski
1983, Henryk Tomaszewski
1992, Stasys Eidrigevicius
1992, Rafal Olbinski
1964, Jan Lenica
1992, Wieslaw Rosocha
1997, Miroslaw Adamczyk
1999, Jerzy Czerniawski