Polish+American+Artwork

media type="youtube" key="WZi9SreEcVU" width="425" height="350" Papaya by Urszula Dudziak

Polish Influence on the Arts by: Ellie Callinan Polish-American artists seem to share one thing in common; they originate from Polish descent. The country of Poland is located in Central Europe, and many people found the long ship ride to America worth taking. Many people immigrated to America from Poland at the ending of World War I, and by 1800 roughly 5 million from Poland immigrated to the United States. Most fled to America expecting better facilities, whereas others were eager to fight in the Revolutionary War because they strongly believed in self-government. However, immigrants of Poland first appeared during the year 1608, which were hired by the London Company to increase their industrial skills. At first they were not allowed the right to vote, so they successfully fought for their civil rights by going on strike and refusing to work until they were granted this right. Differed groups of people were included in the Polish-American immigrant genre, including intellectuals, men from the military wanting to fight, people who had gone through religious persecution, and simply working-class people wanting to make money and escape their economic problems in Poland.

Poland bred multiple artists who immigrated to America to further pursue their dreams. One example of an artist who contributed to America’s culture is Urszula Dudziak. She is a jazz vocalist who immigrated from her homeland of Poland to America in the late 1950s. Her most famous song is called “Papaya,” where she uses scat singing, which is is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables and nonsense syllables. This artist stuck out to me because she incorporates Polish folk in her jazz performances which makes her unique to all of the other jazz musicians in America. Another important Polish-American artist is Stanislav Szukalski, who was born in Poland in 1893, and immigrated to the United States in his teens. He was a painter and sculptor, whose work was lost then rediscovered after his death and is now being preserved in multiple Polish museums in the world. What is interesting about Szukalski is that he tried to use his art to prove his theory called Zermatism, which says that all human culture and language derived from a single origin on Easter Island after the biblical Deluge of Noah. One of his famous portraits is one of Galileo Galilei, which has him looking up towards the sky with a cross on his forehead and math on the wall behind him, which represents that fact that although Galileo disapproved the teachings of the Bible, there was once a point where even the most opposite ideas once originated from the same root.

Both of these Polish-American artists have influenced American culture through art when they came to America because they brought some of their inspiration from their homeland. Dudziak uses Polish folk in her music and scats to it. This is highly influential to the music industry because she introduced a different upbeat and almost dance-y tempo to jazz music, while still rooting from the music she listened to in her town in Poland. All jazz music is expressive of the artist, which is a main theme in music made in America. By Dudziak expressing her personality and heritage, and by incorporating different types of music into a bigger genre, she has changed the whole genre by influencing other jazz artists to do the same with their homeland’s specific music. Stanislav Szukalski was a unique artist of his time because he believed in using his artwork to prove his theory is correct. This theme of using art to prove something or to get a message across has been acquired throughout the world, and it seems that art has much more effectiveness. Just like in his portrait of Galileo, he often used small symbols to be able to prove his point. Just like Dudziak, Szukalski is expressing himself through his art so it can be viewed, questioned, and hopefully accepted by art viewers.

SAM ROSENBURGH

=CLASSIC POLISH AMERICANS=

Artwork by Rafal Olbinkski



"Tango" by Elie Nadelman

Over the years there have been numerous reasons for Poles to come to America. Large amounts of Polish immigrants came over to America soon after they lost the war. Many veterans came over to America in the 1830s to avoid the aftermath of losing the war. The largest amount of Polish immigration to America came after the 1850s when Poles wanted to leave the gradual capitalist transformation and modernization of Poland. This period of mass migration brought about 2.5 million Poles to the United States from 1850 to 1920.

America is a country that is shaped by its immigrants, and Polish immigrants have made many contributions to America. Edmund Muskie was a Polish-American that had great contributions to this country. He was a very successful U.S. politician and he served as a Senator in Maine for 22 years. Rafal Olbinski was a well respected painter, illustrator and designer that immigrated to America from Poland. He received over 150 awards for his outstanding artistic achievements. In 1995 Olbinski’s poster was chosen as the official New York City Capital of the World poster. Elie Nadelman was a sculptor that immigrated from America to Poland in 1927 to avoid World War I. Nadelman established a large collection of museum quality sculptures.

Rafal Olbinksi’s artwork shows many themes that have to do with immigrants to America. In the piece of artwork that I chose Rafal shows a face with three entirely different skin colors. I think that this piece of artwork represents America because it shows how people from different backgrounds can come together and be one. This holds true in American society because in America there are people from all over the world that live together. The sculpture “Tango” by Elie Nadelman also represents aspects of American society in my opinion. This sculpture shows two people dancing together. This could show how people feel when they get two America and achieve the American dream.

Josh P.

The first wave of polish people started to come to America during 1880 from all over Poland there was another mass act of immigration in 1850 when a lot of polish people started by migrating to the US to go live in Texas. There are many reasons why the polish left Poland like they wanted better opportunities or because of religion. They encountered many rough times like having to ride a boat all the way to America that wasn’t really taken care of. After a few years the polish fit in just like they were Americans you would not even be able to tell the difference between the two. It is estimated that there are 10 million polish Americans in the US.

The first piece of artwork I choose was a painting by Jaroslaw Jasnikowski he is a polish American artist he painted this photo because that’s how he thought it would be like to go on a voyage to find Moby dick. I choose this piece of art because it’s not like a normal painting you usually see its very different then most American paintings because its sort off futuristic but it stays to the point. The other form of art I choose was Arthur Rubinstein who is a pianist that was polish American who came to America to fulfill his dream to become a famous pianist which he did I choose his song Chopin piano concerto no 1 because it shows his true emotions like the struggle he had to take to America.

<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">The theme of this art work is struggle because they all had to struggle somewhat to get <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">to where they are now like Arthur Rubinstein put his whole life on the line to succeed in <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">America and he ended up succeeding. The polish artistic voice is a voice from the heart of their <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">people because they wanted a better life and they came here to get it. The other themes that <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">you could see in this is sacrifice because they had to leave there families and come here and <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">not even know how America truly is and they had to put their whole life’s on the line because <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">what if they can’t find work here then what r they going to do. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; line-height: 0px; overflow: hidden;">



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<span style="background-color: #fefeec; color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Polish Immigration Experience to America <span style="background-color: #fefeec; color: #480448; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Polish immigrants have come a long way and still managed to contribute to American culture especially through the arts. Polish people loved their country plus, they were very devoted to it and thought it was an ideal place to live. Poland had advanced culture and high developed power during the Golden Age and was almost the most powerful country in Europe at this time. Even the Polish peasants had more rights than any other peasant in all of Europe. But in the eighteenth century this changed drastically. Austria, Prussia (a part of Germany today), and Russia started taking over Poland’s territory and in the nineteenth century they managed to completely take over; Poland was no longer on the map. This made Poles feel like second class citizens in their own country and they lost almost all their culture, values, and rights. In 1870 to 1914 three and a half million Poles left their country looking for a better life and ended up immigrating to America. But about thirty percent of Polish immigrants ended up returning to Poland because of their devotion and love for it. This journey took two months initially, but once the Poles started using steamboats it took less than two weeks. This journey was not easy by all means. They had to bring their own food for the boat ride because the food that was served on the ship was considered not edible. For sleeping arrangements, everyone was crammed together and there were always fights over who got the lower berth because the top ones always smelled. To cope with surviving on this journey and not having their needs met, Polish people drank a lot of vodka to lessen this pain. It also made it easier to sleep. But eventually they made it to America safely and had many more obstacles to overcome. <span style="background-color: #fefeec; color: #480448; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">When Poles finally got to observe America for themselves they were completely shocked. Poles lived by the ideals that the wealthy people should help out the poor to create a better community and everyone would be slightly more equal. But in America this did not exist, and could even be considered the opposite. The wealthy people had all the luxuries and benefits of American while the poor were at a loss and barely had anything at all. Because of this and the desire to conserve their culture and heritage Poles isolated themselves and created communities called Polonia. Polonias were not just concentration of poles in an area. They were small independent societies within the larger American society. They were more focused on other Polonia communities and Poland than the politics and news in America. The houses in these communities were all very simple and one story because Poles would send most of their money back home to Poland and make generous donations to their Parish. There was always a beautiful Catholic church in every Polonia community. The only time Poles would ever encounter other ethnic groups was at the workplace. Men would work either as a blacksmith on a farm, lumber workers, miner, factory worker, carpenters, or railroad workers. If the men saved up enough money they would open up their own business, like a butcher shop, grocery store, or saloon. These stores would also serve as banks for immigrants who wanted to sent money back home. Also they would help unschooled people learn to write and read, help find jobs for others, and help complete paper work. Women would work as maids or servants and sometimes did light manufacturing jobs. But once they got married their job would be to take care of the house and kids. Eventually Poles earn the reputation of being hard workers and most supervisors who needed more employees would encourage their Polish employees to have their friends apply. Henry Ford once said “Polish workers are the cleverest of the foreigners and have respectable suggestions for improvement”(Gabor 32). Unfortunately some supervisors would take advantage of Poles hard working capability by giving them the dirtiest, hardest, and most dangerous jobs. They would treat Poles as if they were African American or slaves. Finally when the World Wars broke out, the Poles felt that it was their job to protect America, so most men volunteered to join the army. About seventy percent of the army at that time was polish men. But in 1921 congress restricted Poles in the Army and in America because of ‘racial inferior’. This gave Poles the reputation of being unintelligent, dirty, cheap, and intolerant. This lead Poles to Americanize by changing their last names and leaving Polonia. Polish newspapers, television shows, radio, and music were no longer in Polish but now in English. Even though this made following generations lose a lot of their heritage and culture, but it also got other Americans interested in the Polish culture. This is when America started to be influenced by the Polish and adapt some of their culture and art. Poles had to overcome many difficulties in America between holding onto their heritage and being accepted plus treated equally. In the end, Poles had made an impact on America and contributed to their culture. <span style="background-color: #fefeec; color: #480448; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Poles added a great deal to American culture between food, fashion, music, art, and the theaters. Many famous artists’ actors and film makers are immigrants from Poland and base their work off of the Polish culture. Daniel Libeskind is a well known architect who is a Polish immigrant and is very in touch with his Polish heritage. He was born in Lodx Poland on May 12th 1946. At a young age Libeskind developed extraordinary talents for all types of art. He was on Polish television at age six to show off his music and acting talents. When he was in his teenage years, he immigrated to America. Once in the United States Libeskind discovered his love for architecture and stared to teach and develop his theories of design rather than jumping right to building and creating art. Finally in the twenty century Libeskind build his first building and from then on he was known for his architecture. One of Libeskind’s most famous architectures in America is called the Jewish Museum "L'Chai'm: To Life," and it’s in San Francisco, California. This piece was build between 1998 and 2005, one of Libeskind’s more resent works of art. This piece of art from the outside looks like a cube tilted on one of its sides, almost in a shape of a diamond. The material used gives the structure a very smooth and modern look. Along with the perfectly cut windows, the building fits right into place but has a significant meaning behind it, which Libeskind like to used a lot in his work. Another famous artist who is known to contribute Polish culture to America is Wladyslaw Teodor Benda. He was born on January 15th 1873 in Pozan, which at the time was under the rule of Germany but Poles still considered it one of the four providences of Poland. He unfortunately died on November 30th 1948 in Newark, New Jersey. Benda stayed in Poland to focus on his heritage and culture and put that into his art work. He went to Krakow College of Technology and Art mainly, but also attended other schools throughout his life including ones in America. In the late 19th century he immigrated to America to live with his Aunt, Helena Modjeska, who was a very famous actress in the United States. Once in America he started to become well known for his unique art work and style. He was very talented at doing facial features and is most famous for his masks. One of his most famous works of art was his masks. Whether it was illustrations or actually papier-mâché masks, this was Benda’s big breaking point that made him most famous. He created "grotesque" masks, which were more fantasy or caricature in nature. People started calling everyday Masks, Benda Masks even if they weren’t designed by him. Benda also illustrated in Collier magazine and also did the cover for it numerous times. Benda was always finding new ways to capture his audience and stay very well known. Through artistic Polish immigrants, Polish culture contributed and impacted American art. <span style="background-color: #fefeec; color: #480448; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Even though Libeskind and Benda specialized in different areas of art, they still carried similar themes behind their famous art work. Libeskind and Benda both were very in touch with their Polish heritage and had no means of losing it when they came to America. In fact they both wanted to share their amazing culture with as many people as possible by inspiring them through the beauty of Poland. When Libeskind was asked to design and build "L'Chai'm: To Life," he was thrilled and even told interviews that he wanted it to be a lively center that fosters community among people of diverse backgrounds through shared experiences with the arts by focusing on the celebratory nature of the Jewish experience(1). For the rare Polish immigrants that were Jewish, they strongly believed in helping the Jewish immigrants and encouraging them to hold on to their religious heritage. This contributed to America by encouraging different religious beliefs and individuality. Also Libeskind used a lot of sharp-edged wit, which many Polish artists originally used and developed. This rubbed off on American artists but also assisted federal policies and schools to celebrate cultural diversity. This contribution to American art came from the Polish belief in embracing one’s culture and being proud of their heritage. Benda also used these themes throughout his work. Benda got into masks not only because he was talented at making them but also because they followed a similar theme to what he believed in. People shouldn’t have to fit into a mask, a mask should be made to fit the person. Every mask is unique and there is a mask out there for anyone. Poles believed in showing their culture and not converting to be accepted by the general public. People should be able to be themselves all the time, not only behind a mask and to themselves. When Benda did the covers and illustrations for Collier magazine he wanted people to see that different and abstract things, like art work, can still awe people and not be seen in a negative way. This is why his masks were picked to be portrayed in famous movies, plays, and other productions. American culture adapted this believe and is now shown throughout their artwork too. Over a hundred years ago Polish immigrants came to America and left behind a huge cultural impact that is still seen throughout modern America, especial through their artists and artwork. <span style="background-color: #fefeec; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">By: Aimee Wenta