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Land of The Winged Horsemen/ Art in Poland 1572-1764
June -September 6, 1999

Art Institute of Chicago

When most Americans think of Europe, they mean France, Italy, modern Germany, (ironically) The British Isles and perhaps (at times and in part) Spain. In short, the western periphery of that continent. In recent history, central and eastern Europe have become little known.

But, with the Union of Lublin in 1569, the joint Commonwealth of Crown Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania stretched from the Baltic to the Black Sea and was the largest state in Europe. And the most diverse. Of its population, forty percent were Poles: The balance consisted of Lithuanians, Ruthenians, Germans, Jews, Italians, Greeks, Armenians, Tartars and even noticeable colonies of Englishmen and Scots. Roman and Byzantine Christianity, Protestantism, Islam, Judaism, and variations in-between, met with the western Renaissance and Baroque; and absorbed prominent influences from Turkish, Arabic and Oriental cultures.

The character of a culture and a period are often most highlighted when seen in relief against adjacent contemporaneous and distinctly foreign societies. West is not West until there is an East: The Baroque is all the more evident when seen from a society which knew neither medievalism nor a subsequent Renaissance.

"Land of The Winded Horsemen/ Art in Poland 1572-1764," now on exhibition at The Art Institute of Chicago, is exciting in the scale, quality and range of the artworks on display. Many of the items have never before been viewed abroad, and a number are not readily accessible even at their historical repositories. But this exhibition is more than an unprecedented showing of art objects, or a survey of uncommon history. It restores a balance to our recent misperceptions of Europe and its art legacy, brings us to examine more closely 'Renaissance,' 'Baroque,' earlier perceptions of 'Western' and 'Eastern,' and the show intrigues with its range of cross-cultural interpretations and syntheses. An excellent and exhilarating example of the latter is "Vessels From The Sultan Service" (Pre-1777). These are a dish and plate from what was originally a set of 280 pieces executed at the Royal Manufactory at Belweder, Warsaw, Poland, and presented by King Stanislaus Augustus Poniantowski to the Turkish sultan Abdul Hamid. These are items 129 in the show's catalogue, which notes: "The Sultan service was modeled on Chinese porcelain wares, which in turn imitated Japanese vessels in the Imari style (so-called Chinese Imari)." Even with the more familiar examples of Rembrandt's Polish Rider,' and Mozart's Turkish themes, we now tend to forget how much 'East' courses within our notions of West,' or 'European.' And this is especially evident in many of these items from the Polish and Lithuanian Commonwealth of this chosen 'Silver Age.' (The Polish 'Golden Age' was The Renaissance, which, due to close ties and affinities with Italy, came early and lingered much longer than in the rest of Europe.)

For an art viewership familiar with Rembrandt's so-called "Polish Rider," or the sevententh century etchings of Stefano Della Bella on Polish subjects, "Land of The Winged Horsemen" offers an opportunity to view at firsthand the reality which served them as inspiration.

A particularly striking example of the harmonization of diverse cultural streams into a distinct native fashion can be seen in such portraiture as "Stanislaw Teczynski" (Catalogue Item No.25) painted about 1630 and attributed to Tommaso Dolabella who was brought to Cracow by King Sigismund III. The exhibition catalogue notes that the execution displays strong links with the Venetian school (of which Dolabella was the foremost representative in Poland) and even affinities with artistic developments in the Netherlands. But the fashion is very representative of a young Polish nobleman of the time.

Equally impressive is "Wincenty Aleksander Gosiewski" (Catalogue No. 49), painted by Daniel Schultz the Younger about 1650 or 1651. It is a portrait in battle dress, of a noble who was to follow a highly eventful military career, but who, earlier, studied in Vilnius, Vienna, Rome and Padua. Gosiewski's gaze displays an almost Elizabethan passion, combining a lively refinement with an equal measure of martial ferocity. Delacroix would have gloried in such models. And, at this time when the Ottomons both fascinated the fashionable and threatened the Commonwealth's borders, there would have been ample material for his Orientalisme.

"Stefan Czarniecki, 1659" (Cat. No. 50) was painted by Brodero Matthisen, probably when Czarniecki fought against the Swedes in support of the king of Denmark, a Polish ally. It is one the very few of Matthisen's works that survive (most were destroyed in an 1859 fire at Frederiksborg Castle, Copenhagen). For those who recall Shakespeare's Hamlet, that play is set amidst these events. This exhibition, as the catalogue attests, offers a concrete context for so much of the European cultural legacy.

What is important to note, is the broad frequency of foreign artists encompassed in this exhibition. While domestic Polish fine and decorative art, with noteworthy exceptions, was fine, the Commonwealth of Poland and Lithuania in this and earlier centuries was immense and prosperous -- a major 'market' for the arts and applied artistries. It thus attracted and sustained artists and art contacts from all of the best European and Eastern centers. Much of this is evident in the "Land of the Winged Horsemen."

The famed porcelain now known as "Meissen" initially had a Warsaw center, although the manufactory at Meissen, Germany, eventually flourished as the victorious branch. The Saxon courts of Polish stressed the connections and, through support for Polish themes in porcelain, introduced the motifs through the German states and French workshops such as Samson. Some of that genre are represented in "Figurines of Polish Noblemen and Noblewomen" (Cat. No. 125). These now rare items are not only valuable sources for history and fashion -- they are visual delights.

One of the great virtues of what is an excellent showing, is that "Land of the Winged Horsemen" includes a wide contribution of many of the Commonwealth's 'minority' citizentry. (In this Period, historians note, ethnic Poles accounted for about 41 percent of the Commonwealth's citizens.) The examples of ritual and applied arts from the Jewish community of the Polish and Lithuanian Commonwealth are some of the finest. Orthodox and Uniate items are represented and the exhibition catalogue is invaluable in presenting the background of so many nationalities and religious confessions that made up the cosmopolitan state. The Commonwealth of Poland and Lithuania did among many other things nourish the Racovian Protestants, who influenced Spinoza and John Locke; shaped the Arianist Polish Brethren who developed the Unitarian church, and eventually founded Europe's first Ministry of Education. The art and history of this exhibition is of more significance than one might first expect.

The catalogue itself deserves laudatory comment. At $39.95, I have to admit that most budgets will feel a pinch. But if at all possible, it is well worth having. It is a luxurious 380-page large format album which presents not only an in-depth exposition of the art on exhibit, but excellent, detailed scholarly essays on history, the Baroque in full context, highly useful biographies and bibliographies, and high quality illustrations.

And... if the catalogue seems daunting, one might just investigate The History of Polish Literature (MacMillan: 1969) by Nobel Prize winner, Czeslaw Milosz. Despite its title, the book gives an excellent cultural and historical survey of European thought and culture. It is a manageable introduction.

"Land of the Winged Horsemen/ Art in Poland 1572-1764" continues through September 6th in the Rice Building of the Art Institue of Chicago. It is a rare opportunity and a must for anyone who wishes a stunning experience and a complete art education.

--G. Jurek Polanski

Jurek Polanski has previously written and art edited for Strong Coffee in Chicago. He's also well known and respected among the Chicago museums and galleries. Jurek is currently a Visual Arts Correspondent for ArtScope.net.