Polske bøger

Georgia O'Keeffe. Witold Sygocki. Wydawnicrwo Szumacher.

The book in the present and in the past has always been the reflection of the world, the mirror of times and artistic styles. Past events have influenced its shape, form, tasks and aims that were ascribed to it. Today, at the end of the 20th century, the book seems to be something common and usual. Sometimes it becomes one of the objects of everyday life. For example, today it has its special value as a guide, and in the future it may be a testimony of the past.

It was not by chance that I entered the world of books and their production. I tried to learn the new meaning of images and words and their coexistence in new spaces. I endeavoured to pay attention to those books which make a special impression, books and which are objects of aesthetic experience, caused by words and images which can acquire exceptional and timeless meaning in the mind of the reader. They will gain new essence and meaning again in the future when they are read in accordance with the current knowledge about the world. We do not have much detailed information on the first illuminated codices or even earlier papyruses. Since the very beginning, however, words and images have been recorded and human thoughts written down in accordance with the tradition of transmission typical of a given epoch. I refer to both books and paintings which emerged as mosaics and wall and easel paintings. I find them in books where they were used as illustrations complementing the written word. They show the sense of the text, they are an element of decoration, affirmation and the conception of reality. On my 'journey' I visit the studios of painters, illuminators and book artists. This work goes back to the Middle Ages and closes with the present time. The purpose of the presented information is to show how the art of painting permeates the world of books and how these two inspire each other. The chosen examples demonstrate some ways of using the image, its influence, the development of independence, and distinct principles concerning the book, its illustrations and types, the possibilities for decoration, the aims of authors and editors. I tried to grasp the changes which have made the book of today show itself in all its wealth of content and image. The presented material does not exhaust the topic, rather it constitutes the background for future discussions.

The reproductions of Georgia O'Keeffe's paintings, which I discovered in the 1980s, inspired me to search for the traces of her life and her painting which is so popular in the United States, but is hardly known in Poland. The space that she created in her painting in New York, Arizona, New Mexico is not only a record of places; it is also a conception of them put on a canvas. Her flowers and specific landscapes became an impulse for my own work. I do not try to evaluate Georgia O'Keeffe's painting-this is not the purpose of this work. However, I believe that her paintings could be successfully used as book illustrations. I have combined them with texts which were chosen among several hundred pieces of literatures (essays, poems, diaries and notes). These specific editorial projects are presented in a totally new composition which has never appeared before. This way I would like to show not only Georgia O'Keeffe's art but also the possibilities for the complementation of words written in a different cultural tradition with her paintings.

In the through research carried out in the United States, I tried to answer the question whether Georgia O'Keeffe's painting had ever been used to illustrate a text. (Obviously, I do not mean books devoted to her life or art.) Had anybody put together the space of her landscapes, flowers and abstractions and the words said by someone else? I did not find any confirmation that any editor or publisher had presented the art of this American painter and changed its purpose by using it as book illustrations. I looked for the traces of such activities in libraries and bookshops, I talked to booksellers and those who had seen O'Keeffe's paintings. I will try to continue this research and widen its scope in the future.

The paths which led me to Arizona, New Mexico's environs, places where O'Keeffe had spent most of her life, allowed me to discover the spaces, colours and shapes preserved in her paintings. The visit to Arizona helped me to see their origins. Subchapters concerning these editorial projects form separate parts which are connected by Georgia O'Keeffe's art.

My next steps are an attempt to present the writers who at the same time are the authors of illustrations; typographic, painting and graphic projects in the Polish art of the 20th century. I do not present the whole work of the chosen authors, I just touch on artistic possibilities of someone who also worked with the word. Bruno Schulz, Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński, Erna Rosenstein, Zbigniew Makowski are some of those people. Generally literary and artistic activities of these artists were simultaneous with O'Keeffe's paintings of flowers and images of New York and New Mexico.

In the fourth part of my book one can find the phenomena which make words speak to us through images and images speak through words. That is why one can find here:

• visual poetry, present for centuries in many forms and discovered anew by futurists and artistic movements searching for new forms and styles,
• film and theatre as a method for the simultaneous use of words and images,
• advertising,
• maps and astrological diagrams.

From the meetings with Polish editors, I have learnt about the changes in the ways and possibilities for book production in the last few years: the changes concerning paper, fonts, typographic and artistic projects, high quality photographs and graphics. My conversations with historians of art and people involved in both artistic and editorial activities have proved that O'Keeffe's art is unknown but it arouses interest.

I hope, however, that my work will not only draw nearer Georgia O'Keeffe's art but also draw attention to the possibilities present in combining words and images.

Georgia O'Keeffe, Nowy Jork 1977.

Lisle Laurie, Portrait of an Artist. A Biography of Georgia O'Keeffe. Nowy Jork 1981.

Castro Jan Garden, The Art and Life of Georgia O'Keeffe. Nowy Jork 1985.

Callaway Nicholas, Georgia O'Keeffe: One Hundred Flowers. Nowy Jork 1987.

Cowart Jack, Hamilton Juan, Georgia O'Keeffe: Art and Letters. Boston - Nowy Jork 1987.

Eldredge Charles C., American and Modern. Yale University Press 1993.

Eldredge Charles C., Georgia O'Keeffe. Nowy Jork 1991.

Messinger Lisa, Georgia O'Keeffe. Nowy Jork 1988.

Pollitzer Anita, A Woman on Paper: Georgia O'Keeffe. Nowy Jork 1988.

Giboire Clive, Lovinly Georgia, The Complete Correspondence of Georgia O'Keeffe & Anita Pollitzer. Nowy Jork 1990.

Montgomery Elizabeth, Georgia O'Keeffe, Nowy Jork 1993.

Peters Whitaker Sarah, Becoming O'Keeffe. The Early Years, Nowy Jork 1991.

Waldo Franc, America & Alfred Stieglitz. A Collective Portrait. Nowy Jork 1934.