Jan Młodożeniec, IKAR

29.5 x 20.7cm - gouache, paper

signed p.d.: JAN MŁODOŻENIEC

on the reverse, pencil inscription l.d.: Mlodozeniec 1/10

small paper creases visible in top corner

Jan Młodożeniec (Warsaw 1929 - Warsaw 2000) studied from 1948 to 1955 at the Department of Graphics and Posters, led by Henryk Tomaszewski at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. From 1953 he was affiliated with the Film Rental Center, whose patronage allowed the future coryphaeus of the "Polish poster school" to survive the worst years of Socialist Realism. Młodożeniec, like other poster designers of the period, smuggled in his works iconographic elements and stylistic features unacceptable in official art (deformation, metaphorical abbreviation of not always "right" meaning, pessimism, etc.). In the following years, the artist developed his own, universally recognizable style of poster art, based on simplified drawing, the use of shapes clearly distinguished by thick contours and large areas of contrasting colors, which brought his works closer to folk art. Młodożeniec specialized in film and theater posters, promoting cultural events - there are no political posters in his mature oeuvre. At the same time he was involved in book graphics and illustration. He worked for publishing houses (including Czytelnik, Iskier, PIW, WAiF, Wydawnictwo Literackie), as well as magazines in which he contributed drawings ("Nowa Kultura", "Współczesność", "Ekran", "Film", "Polska", "Szpilki", and in times closer to us - the Polish edition of "Playboy", "Gazeta Wyborcza magazine"). More recently, he has also painted small compositions that refer in style to posters and covers from the peak of his career.