Polish Gothic Art Exhibition

The Department of Applied Graphic Design was founded in the School of Fine Arts in Warsaw in 1926. Until the outbreak of the Second World War, it was supervised by Edmund Bartłomiejczyk (1885–1950), a talented and versatile graphic designer, one of the most prominent Polish illustrators. He studied in the Drawing School belonging to the Museum of Crafts in Warsaw, took an architecture course in the School of Fine arts in Warsaw and also graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow, Faculty of Applied Arts. During his professional activity, the artist designed books, posters, postage stamps, banknotes and leaflets, taking the latter creative discipline not any less seriously. In the years 1917–1930, he worked as a lecturer at the Warsaw University of Technology, Faculty of Architecture.

In the School of Fine Arts, the later Academy of Fine Arts (this status was granted in 1932), the Professor Bartłomiejczyk initiated collecting Polish and foreign posters. He was also a progenitor of calling for a formation of an artists' union that would act to raise the standards of applied graphic design in Poland. The Commercial Graphic Artists' Circle [Polish: Koło Artystów Grafików Reklamowych] was founded in 1933, with its members including: Ludwik Gardowski (1890–1965), Tadeusz Gronowski (1894–1990), Jan Mucharski (1900–1981), Adam Półtawski (1881–1952), Józef Tom (1883–1962), Jerzy Zaruba (1891–1971), Tadeusz Trepkowski (1914–1954).

Among the first graduates of the Department of Applied Graphic Design were: Jadwiga Salomea Hładki (1904–1944), Edward Manteuffel (1908–1940) and Antoni Wajwód (1905–1944). In 1933, they started a graphic design studio "Mewa" [Seagull], that operated until the outbreak of the Second World War. The studio was active not only in the area of applied graphic design, but also performing wall-painting, interior design, e.g. of "Batory" and "Piłsudski" ocean liners, display windows, e.g. of the Polish weekly literary magazine "Wiadomości Literackie" and stands. It participated in the exhibition design for the World Exhibition in Paris, held in 1937, with the theme of Art and Technology in the Modern Life.

Despite the fact that the artistic work of each member of "Mewa" was highly individual, they shared a common, painting-like approach to the topic. The artists, inspired by woodcut printing, were able to apply the results of this technique in graphic design. Square shapes, broken lines and planes were applied for example in the poster announcing the Polish Gothic Art Exhibition.

To them we owe introducing paper art – a discipline truly mastered by Wajwód – to the graphic designer's workshop. Paper, shaped and composed freely, was illuminated and photographed to create interesting forms. This technique was applied, for instance, in the L’art Polonais poster and in numerous book cover and book jacket designs.