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Janina Musiałczyk. W drodze, on the road

Janina Musiałczyk, 2023
©
Krzysztof Nast

Janina Musiałczyk was born in Kraśnik in 1943. From 1947 onwards, she spent the rest of her childhood years growing up in Łódź, before studying at the State Higher School of Visual Arts (Państwowa Wyższa Szkoła Sztuk Plastycznych), now known as the Strzemiński Academy of Fine Arts Łódź (Akademia Sztuk Pięknych im. Władysława Strzemińskiego w Łodzi), from 1961–67. From 1967–81, she ran the group of studios dedicated to the fine arts in the Palace of Youth (Pałac Młodzieży) in Łódź. In 1981, a few months before the imposition of martial law, she left Poland, emigrating to Hamburg via Sweden. In 1985, together with Renate Schröder, she founded a private art school in Hamburg, which she headed until 2000. From 1969–2021, she showed her work in around 30 solo exhibitions in Poland, Switzerland and Germany, 22 of which were in Hamburg, and was involved in a further 20 group exhibitions. The online exhibition shown here presents 99 works from 1974–2022. The introductory text is followed by words from people who have accompanied her on her journey.

Mediathek Sorted

Media library
  • Fig. 1: “Meetings on the Road” (Begegnungen unterwegs) 35, 1995 - Black ink, gouache on paper, 36x47.5 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 2: “Here and There” (Hier und dort) 20, 1984 - Black and coloured ink on paper, 31.5x32 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 3: “Here and There” (Hier und dort) 21, 1984 - Black and coloured ink on paper, 31.5x32 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 4: “Divided Landscape, Created Landscape” (Geteilte Landschaft, gestaltete Landschaft) 19, 1983 - Black ink, gouache on paper, 25x32 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 5: “On the Road” (Unterwegs) 13, 1996 - Acrylic on canvas, 46x33 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 6: “On the Road” (Unterwegs) 1, 1996 - Acrylic on canvas, 46x33 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 7: “Here and There” (Hier und dort) 8, 1986 - Gouache, oil pastel on paper, 22x31.5 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 8: “People, Borders, Landscapes” (Menschen, Grenzen, Landschaften) 30, 1986 - Gouache, watercolour, white and black ink, mixed technique on paper, 29.5x41 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 9: “Here and There” (Hier und dort) 25, 1984 - Black ink on paper, 53x70 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 10: “Here and There” (Hier und dort) 10, 1986 - Coloured pencils on paper, 24x32 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 11: “Here and There” (Hier und dort) 11, 1986 - Watercolour, black ink on paper, 23.5x31 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 12: “Here and There” (Hier und dort) 22, 1984 - Black and coloured ink on paper, 45x63 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 13: “Here and There” (Hier und dort) 23, 1984 - Black ink on paper, 35x50 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 14: “Here and There” (Hier und dort) 24, 1984 - Black and white ink on paper, 50x70 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 15: “Here and There” (Hier und dort) 18, 1983 - Black ink, gouache on paper, 20x29 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 16: “Here and There” (Hier und dort) 6, 1986 - Black and white ink, watercolour on paper, 27x37.5 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 17: “Departure, Exodus” (Fortgang, Exodus) 13, 2000 - Black ink on paper, 30x40 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 18: “Meetings on the Road (II)” (Begegnungen unterwegs) 3, 1999 - Black ink on paper, 30x40 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 19: “Meetings on the Road (II)” (Begegnungen unterwegs) 2, 2000 - Black ink on paper, 30.5x41 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 20: “Meetings on the Road (II)” (Begegnungen unterwegs) 3, 2000 - Black ink, watercolour on paper, 29x42 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 21: “Meetings on the Road (III)” (Begegnungen unterwegs) 3, 2013 - Black, white ink, gouache on paper, 29x40 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 22: “People, Borders, Landscapes” (Menschen, Grenzen, Landschaften) 4, 1988 - Pastels on paper, 35x45 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 23: “Meetings on the Road (II)” (Begegnungen unterwegs) 6, 1998 - Black ink on paper, 29x39 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 24: “Here and There” (Hier und dort) 23, 1984 - Black ink, gouache on paper, 20x28 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 25: “The Earth” (Die Erde) 5, 1974 - Black ink on paper, 34x47 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 26: “The Earth” (Die Erde) 6, 1974 - Black ink on paper, 40x50 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 27: “Together” (Zusammen) 6, 2000 - Black ink on paper, 32x41 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 28: “Together” (Zusammen) 8, 2000 - Black ink, gouache on paper, 32x41 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 29: “Together” (Zusammen) 4, 2000 - Black ink on paper, 32x40.5 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 30: “It Teeters (II)” (Es taumelt) 3, 2001 - Black ink on paper, 30x40 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 31: “It Teeters (II)” (Es taumelt) 6, 2000 - Black ink on paper, 30x40 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 32: “Coming, Becoming, Going” (Kommen, werden, gehen) 28, 1993 - Black ink on paper, 70x50 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 33: “Coming, Becoming, Going” (Kommen, werden, gehen) 21, 1993 - Black ink on paper, 42x29.5 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 34: “Coming, Becoming, Going” (Kommen, werden, gehen) 13, 1993 - Black ink on paper, 42x29.5 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 35: “Coming, Becoming, Going” (Kommen, werden, gehen) 20, 1993 - Black ink on paper, 42x29.5 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 36: “Coming, Becoming, Going” (Kommen, werden, gehen) 15, 1993 - Black ink on paper, 42x29.5 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 37: “Coming, Becoming, Going” (Kommen, werden, gehen) 12, 1993 - Black ink on paper, 42x29.5 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 38: “Coming, Becoming, Going” (Kommen, werden, gehen) 29, 1993 - Black ink on paper, 58.5x80 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 39: “Coming, Becoming, Going” (Kommen, werden, gehen) 30, 1993 - Black ink on paper, 39.5x56.5 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 40: “It Teeters” (Es taumelt) 5, 1995 - Black ink on paper, 29.5x42 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 41: “It Teeters” (Es taumelt) 4, 1995 - Black ink on paper, 29.5x42 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 42: “Coming, Becoming, Going” (Kommen, werden, gehen) 27, 1993 - Black ink on paper, 42x29.5 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 43: “Rented Rooms” (Mieträume) 4, 1998 - Black ink on paper, 32x42 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 44: “It Teeters” (Es taumelt) 21, 1996 - Black ink on paper, 32x41 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 45: “Departure, Exodus” (Fortgang, Exodus) 23, 2000 - Black ink on paper, 32x41 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 46: “Departure, Exodus” (Fortgang, Exodus) 41, 2000 - Black ink on paper, 32x41 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 47: “Departure, Exodus” (Fortgang, Exodus) 18, 2000 - Black ink on paper, 32x41 cm, Emigration Museum Gdynia/Muzeum Emigracji w Gdyni
  • Fig. 48: “Departure, Exodus” (Fortgang, Exodus) 40, 2000 - Black ink on paper, 32x41 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 49: “Departure, Exodus” (Fortgang, Exodus) 61, 2000 - Black ink on paper, 32x41 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 50: “Meetings on the Road (III)” (Begegnungen unterwegs) 8, 2011 - Black ink, gouache on paper, 28x40 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 51: “Meetings on the Road (III)” (Begegnungen unterwegs) 12, 2012 - Black ink, gouache on paper, 28x40 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 52: “Meetings on the Road (II)” (Begegnungen unterwegs) 14, 1998 - Black ink on paper, 30x40 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 53: “Meetings on the Road (II)” (Begegnungen unterwegs) 17, 1998 - Black ink on paper, 30x40 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 54: “It Teeters” (Es taumelt) 36, 1995 - Black ink on paper, 29x42 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 55: “Here and There” (Hier und dort) 8, 1985 - Black ink on paper, 30x42 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 56: “From Here to There” (Von hier bis dort) 3, 1996 - Black ink on paper, 30x40 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 57: “From Here to There” (Von hier bis dort) 2, 1996 - Black ink on paper, 30x40 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 58: “Coming, Becoming, Going (II)” (Kommen, werden, gehen) 39, 1998 - Black ink on paper, 30x40 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 59: “It Teeters” (Es taumelt) 7, 1995 - Black ink on paper, 29x42 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 60: “Meetings on the Road” (Begegnungen unterwegs) 12, 1995 - Coloured pencils on paper, 29.5x42 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 61: “Journeys” (Auf Reisen) 23, 2000 - Black ink on paper, 24x30 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 62: “Meetings on the Road (II)” (Begegnungen unterwegs) 29, 2000 - Pencil, coloured pencils, black ink on paper, 12x12 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 63: “On the Road” (Unterwegs) 9, 1998 - Black ink on paper, 30x40 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 64: “Ghosts and Houses” (Geister und Häuser) 13, 2015 - Acrylic, coloured pencils on paper, 30x40 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 65: “Ghosts and Houses” (Geister und Häuser) 3, 2015 - Acrylic, coloured pencils on paper, 30x40 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 66: “Ghosts and Houses” (Geister und Häuser) 16, 2015 - Acrylic, coloured pencils on paper, 30x40 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 67: “Meetings on the Road” (Begegnungen unterwegs) 22, 1996 - Black ink on paper, 31x42 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 68: “Meetings on the Road” (Begegnungen unterwegs) 24, 1996 - Black ink on paper, 32x42 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 69: “Meetings on the Road” (Begegnungen unterwegs) 37, 1995 - Black ink, acrylic, chalk on paper, 29.5x42 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 70: “People, Borders, Landscapes” (Menschen, Grenzen, Landschaften) 5, 1988 - Gouache, coloured pencils on paper, 31x39.5 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 71: “People, Borders, Landscapes” (Menschen, Grenzen, Landschaften) 6, 1988 - Black ink, gouache, chalk on paper, 31x47 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 72: “People, Borders, Landscapes” (Menschen, Grenzen, Landschaften) 1, 1990 - Black ink, chalk, coloured pencils, acrylic on paper, 21x29 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 73: “People, Borders, Landscapes” (Menschen, Grenzen, Landschaften) 5, 1987 - Black ink, pencil, acrylic on tinted paper, 30x44 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 74: "’81” 13, 1981 - Pencil, black ink on paper, 16x24 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 75: “For the Boy” (Für den Jungen) 38, 2000 - Pencil on paper, 29x42 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 76: “For the Boy” (Für den Jungen) 32, 1998 - Pencil on paper, 29x42 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 77: “For the Boy” (Für den Jungen) 35, 1998 - Pencil on paper, 29.7x42 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 78: “Onwards” (Weiter) 15, 2021 - Acrylic on canvas, 30x30 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 79: “Steps (II)” (Stufen) 9, 2019 - Acrylic on canvas, 40x40 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 80: “Steps” (Stufen) 41, 2006 - Acrylic on canvas, 40x40 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 81: “Steps (II)” (Stufen) 03, 2019 - Acrylic on canvas, 70x50 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 82: “Steps” (Stufen) 7, 2009 - Acrylic on canvas, 70x50 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 83: “Steps” (Stufen) 41, 2006 - Acrylic on canvas, 40x40 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 84: “Steps” (Stufen) 41, 2006 - Acrylic on canvas, 24x30 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 85: “Departure, Exodus” (Fortgang, Exodus) 44, 2002 - Acrylic on canvas, 50x70 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 86: “Rented Rooms” (Mieträume) 35, 2002 - Acrylic on canvas, 54x65 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 87: “Steps” (Stufen) 33, 2006 - Acrylic on canvas, 24x30 cm, private collection
  • Fig. 88: “Episodes” (Episoden) A, 2000–2017 - Mixed technique on paper, 15x17.5 cm each, private collection
  • Fig. 89: “Episodes” (Episoden) B, 2000–2017 - Mixed technique on paper, 15x17.5 cm each, private collection
  • Fig. 90: “Episodes” (Episoden) C, 2000–2017 - Mixed technique on paper, 15x17.5 cm each, private collection
  • Fig. 91: “Episodes” (Episoden) D, 2000–2017 - Mixed technique on paper, 15x17.5 cm each, private collection
  • Fig. 92: “Episodes” (Episoden) E, 2000–2017 - Mixed technique on paper, 15x17.5 cm each, private collection
  • Fig. 93: “I Don’t See It, so It Isn’t There” (Seh nicht, also ist nicht) 1/2, 2022 - Nie widzę, więc nie ma, Hamburg 2022. Double page 1/2
  • Fig. 94: “I Don’t See It, so It Isn’t There” (Seh nicht, also ist nicht) 3/4, 2022 - Nie widzę, więc nie ma, Hamburg 2022. Double page 3/4
  • Fig. 95: “I Don’t See It, so It Isn’t There” (Seh nicht, also ist nicht) 5/6, 2022 - Nie widzę, więc nie ma, Hamburg 2022. Double page 5/6
  • Fig. 96: “I Don’t See It, so It Isn’t There” (Seh nicht, also ist nicht) 7/8, 2022 - Nie widzę, więc nie ma, Hamburg 2022. Double page 7/8
  • Fig. 97: “I Don’t See It, so It Isn’t There” (Seh nicht, also ist nicht) 11/12, 2022 - Nie widzę, więc nie ma, Hamburg 2022. Double page 11/12
  • Fig. 98: “I Don’t See It, so It Isn’t There” (Seh nicht, also ist nicht) 13/14, 2022 - Nie widzę, więc nie ma, Hamburg 2022. Double page 13/14
  • Fig. 99: “I Don’t See It, so It Isn’t There” (Seh nicht, also ist nicht) 15/16, 2022 - Nie widzę, więc nie ma, Hamburg 2022. Double page 15/16

Janina Musiałczyk. W drodze, on the road
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Janina Musiałczyk, 2023. Photo: Krzysztof Nast
Janina Musiałczyk, 2023
©
Krzysztof Nast

Apart from designing silk scarves and weaving tapestries, Musiałczyk also earned money by illustrating books and designing book covers. From 1967–1980, she worked for the Almqvist Wiksell Förlag publishers in Stockholm and the Wydawnictwo Łódzkie publishers in Łódź. Her work included individual abstract or representational covers and vignettes,[45] as well as the design for an entire children’s book, such as the poems and fables of Jan Huszcza, with colourful, expressively abstracted figures, landscapes and still lifes.[46] For a volume of poetry by Andrzej Biskupski,[47] she designed a black-and-white cover with imaginative forms that shifted between flowers and insects, or geometrically abstracted maritime scenes and landscapes for a book for adolescents by Adam Gruda, which was set bet between Warsaw and the Masuria region.[48]

She also exhibited her own independent artwork at an early stage. In 1969, in Bałuty, the northern administrative district of the five that made up Łódź at the time, she co-founded the artists’ group and cooperative gallery Grupa Plastyków Bałuckich, to which she belonged until 1973 and with which she showed oil paintings, large-scale works and installations in public spaces. In 1971, she was awarded an honour by the Polish Artists’ Association, or ZPAP. 

The strongest link to her later work is the image series “The Earth”, which she produced from 1974–1980. The drawings, created with pencil, coloured pencils and black ink on paper, show women’s bodies that are closely connected to the soil and the landscape, which are attacked by birds with long beaks and fiercely spread wings (Fig. 25–26). Clearly, the female figures from symbolistic art, which have a close relationship to Mother Earth and nature, acted as an inspiration.[49] These figures are tortured by nightmares and catastrophes, as with Jacek Malczewski,[50] or are exposed without protection to animals, as with Paul Gauguin,[51] or have hands grabbing for them, as with Munch.[52] At the same time, Musiałczyk’s birds’ wings, which graphically spread out over the entire area of the picture, have the power of the Tachist style prevalent at the time, which was controlled by the subconscious. “My images contain a great deal about my feelings and thoughts”, the artist is quoted as saying a decade later. According to one review of an exhibition, it would appear that these moods and thoughts were predominantly of a resigned, depressive nature: “the woman, the earth, the tree, the wind, the grief, the pain, the loneliness, the sense of weakness”.[53]

In 1973, she received the special prize from the supervisory authority of the school district of Łódź “for extraordinary and innovative services in the field of education and social work”; in 1978, she received the prize awarded by the Polish Ministry of Education and Upbringing (Ministerstwo Oświaty i Wychowania) “for outstanding services in the field of didactic and educational work”. In 1979, two years before she left the country, she was presented with an honorary diploma by the Ministry for her “artistic quality and outstanding services in the field of art education for children and adolescents”.[54]

 

[45] Helena Duninówna: Ludzie i rzeczy (People and Things), Łódź 1968; Tadeusz Chróścielewski: Szkarłatna godzina (The Scarlet Hour), Łódź 1968.

[46] Jan Huszcza: Wierszyki i bajeczki (Short Poems and Fairytales), Łódź 1969.

[47] Andrzej Biskupski: Mój głos zewnętrzny(My Outer Voice), Łódź 1970.

[48] Adam Gruda: North znaczy północ (North Means North), Łódź 1972.

[49] Max Klinger: “The Beginning of Spring” (Frühlingsanfang). Opus I: Etched sketches, 1879, etching, aquatint, 41.5 x 16.8 cm.

[50] Jacek Malczewski: “In the Dust Cloud” (W tumanie), 1893/94, oil on canvas, 78 x 150 cm, National Museum in Poznan Muzeum Narodowe w Poznanie.

[51] Paul Gauguin: The Loss of Virginity, 1890–91, oil on canvas, 90 x 130 cm, Chrysler Museum, Norfolk.

[52] Edvard Munch: The Hands, 1893, oil on canvas, 91 x 77 cm, Munch-museet, Oslo.

[53] “Hamburger Abendblatt”, 13 March 1986, p. 11 (on the occasion of the exhibition Janina Musiałczyk. Aquarelle und Zeichnungen, Hamburger Sparkasse, 1986).

[54] Polak w świecie. Leksykon Polonii i Polaków za granicą (The Pole in the world. Encyclopaedia of the Polonia and Poles abroad), published by Polska Agencja Informacyjna, Warsaw 2001, page 205 f., 403.

Janina Musiałczyk, 2023
©
Krzysztof Nast
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