The artist Marek Zulawski, translation & Polish-British culture

Hi,

I'm launching a new website this week. More on that at the end.

Elsewhere, the Jacek & Hanna Żuławski exhibition at the Municipal Gallery BWA in Bydgoszcz comes to an end tomorrow. I'm about two months late but I just found the poster for it on Instagram.

For anybody who missed the exhibition, there's a good video showcasing many of the works on the gallery's YouTube channel:

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A Marek mini-doc from TVP

Last month, Polish TV channel TVP Polonia showed a mini-documentary about my father Marek. The online version doesn't have subtitles at the moment, but hopefully, it will soon. You can watch it here on the official TVP site, or here on YouTube.

For now, here are some screenshots along with my translation of Tomasz Lis' narration:

Amongst the prominent Polish figures connected with London, one cannot forget Marek Żuławski, a painter, graphic artist, critic and essayist hailing from an extraordinarily artistic family that has inscribed itself in the annals of Polish and European culture. Let's take a closer look at the fascinating life of this outstanding painter.

Although Żuławski was born in Rome, when he was one, his parents decided to settle in Zakopane. His father Jerzy Żuławski, already famous thanks to his novel On the Silver Globe, purchased a beautiful villa designed by Witkiewicz. It soon became one of the most important artistic salons in Zakopane, frequented by celebrities like Artur Rubinstein, Kazimierz Tetmajer, Leopold Staff, Bronisław Malinowski, Władysław Reymont and Tadeusz Boy-Żelenski. The young Żuławski grew up in an atmosphere of intellectual ferment, surrounded by books and a large map of the moon hanging in his father's study...

After completing middle school in Zakopane, [high school in Toruń - ed.] and studying at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts, at the age of 27, he went on a scholarship to Paris, only to settle permanently in London in 1936, where he worked in studios near Warwick Avenue for the rest of his life.

During the war, he worked as a broadcaster in the Polish section of BBC Radio. He also designed posters, such as the well-known Poland: First to Fight, supporting the Polish military effort on the fronts of World War II. During the famous Festival of Britain in 1951, he created a large mural for the House and Garden pavilion, which, after many adventures, survives to this day in the storerooms of the London Transport Museum.

Shortly after arriving in London, Żuławski had his first solo exhibition at the Leger Gallery on Old Bond Street. Later, his works were exhibited multiple times in museums and galleries such as the Tate Gallery, Gimpel Fils Gallery, Bedford House and the Polish Cultural Institute.

Although the painter's works are presented in the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, it is best to visit the University Museum in Toruń as well as the place he held in such high sentiment, Zakopane, where, thanks to the kindness and generosity of his wife Maryla Żuławska, there is an extensive collection of his works in the Tatra Museum.

In the London district of St. John's Wood, not far from the painter's studio, stands the Catholic Church of Our Lady. Żuławski was married there and it's where, three years before his death, he created a huge mural titled The Baptism of Christ in the southern transept. The painter often visited the church to silently pray and contemplate the wonderful light that fills the side nave.

In 1964, the eminent painter Józef Czapski wrote: "Marek Żuławski, who already has a significant name today, will mean a lot in the development of Polish art." It can be said that this prediction has been more than fulfilled.

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Googling "translate Polish memoirs"

Last but not least, this week I'm launching a new website for memoir translation and publication.

Please take a look and reply to this email to tell me what you think - I'm sure it could do with more tweaking. If you know anybody who might be interested in this sort of service, this is now the place to direct them to.

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That's all for this week. Many thanks for reading.

Adam

Adam Zulawski

TranslatingMarek.com / TranslatePolishMemoirs.com / Other stuff