Powojenne środowisko artystów plastyków Olsztyna. Między ludowością, socrealizmem a polską racją stanu

Abstract

The post-war artistic circle in Olsztyn. Between folklore, social realism and Polish reason of state

The main aim of the article is to analyze the artistic life of Olsztyn in the first postwar decade. According to the research, this time played a significant role in constructing the Polish statehood of this region. The folk culture of this area was exposed in artistic activities while signs of bourgeois culture or the presence of the Prussians were ignored. In postwar cultural politics, the Polish reason of state was predominant and it legitimized the version of the past created there. Such an attitude was decisive for the exhibitions taking place in Olsztyn museum, where the traces of Polish culture were referred to. The artistic past of the city is presented mainly from the perspective of Hieronim Skurpski — a painter, director of the museum and creator of the cultural policy, who influenced the artistic and socio-cultural life of Olsztyn like no one else. Since 1949 the work of the artists of Olsztyn manifested the principles of social realism. The author emphasizes the importance of the emergence of artistic life in ruined Olsztyn, which functioned as an impulse which attracted a new generation of artists in the following years, and today the city boasts an art department at the local university.