Sztuka [Art]. Polish monthly art and literature magazine

The poster advertises the Polish monthly “Sztuka” [Art], dedicated to visual arts and literature, published in Paris between 1904–1905, where articles about artists, Polish and European art, reviews of exhibitions with copies of art works and other items concerning cultural topics were presented. The monthly's editor was Antoni Potocki (1867–1939), literary critic and publicist, engaged in the cultural activity of the Polish circle in Paris, and its art director and publisher - a painter, Władysław Granzow (1872–1932).

The poster that advertises Sztuka is the only work in the Poster Museum by Leopold Gottlieb (1879–1934) – painter, graphic designer and draughtsman, apprentice of Jacek Malczewski in the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow, who was professionally active mainly in Cracow, Paris and Vienna. The artist came from a prosperous Jewish family, in which also three Leopold's brothers painted, one of them being the prematurely deceased and extraordinarily talented Maurycy (1856–1879).

The poster's layout is based on the portrayal of a young man pulling the bell rope, with the city panorama and infinite sky maintained in greyish green-yellow colours in the background. Strong diagonalism of his stretched body, face covered by the hands and only a fragment of the bell visible, make the viewer focus on an enormous effort needed to put the bell in motion. The scene should be probably interpreted symbolically and associated with the programming guidelines of Sztuka, a magazine aiming at stimulating the reader to seek contact with contemporary art. To anyone who got to love it, it opens its treasury, treasury of eternal value, where entering is enough to become its heir. (Editorial, Sztuka 1904, no. 1, p. 5).