The Polish-French Critic Waldemar George and his opinions on art

• Authors: Wierzbicka A.
• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

Waldemar George was born in Lodz in 1893 as Waldemar Jerzy Jarocinski, the son of a manufacturer Stanislaw and Regina Eugenia Goldfeder. Well educated (fluent in 5 languages) George-Jarosinski published in Warsaw, as a seventeen or eighteen year-old boy, a volume of poems of patriotic content. To avoid imprisonment he left for France in 1911, where his uncle, Jean Finot, was the editor-in-chief of 'La Revue Mondiale'. He studied humanities at Sorbonne and started his journalist's career in 1912 in the periodical 'Paris-Journal'. As a French citizen he also changed his name into George - more French and easier to pronounce. During the years 1917-1922, W. George collaborated with 'pacifist' periodicals, supported the October Revolution and the idea of creating a people's university. At that time he was a well-known critic who published texts in the most prominent French and German periodicals concerning art. While promoting modern art, which he defined as independent art, he attacked Picasso as a primitive artist of the late 1920s and 1930s.The critic is considered to be the one who discovered Chaim Soutine, the main expressionist of the École de Paris. He also recognised the unknown, excellent cubist of Hungarian origin - Jozsef Csáky, as well as the painters Henri Epstein, Simon Mondzain, Mané-Katz, Oscar Miestchaninoff, and sculptor Jacques Lipchitz. George wrote a lot of articles about Louis Marcoussis and his wife Alice Halicka whom he knew and was friendly with. He also published articles in the Polish press was a correspondent of the Polish periodical 'Wiadomosci Literackie'. In 1922 George was nominated secretary of the exhibition 'Jeune Pologne' (Young Poland), which took place in the Museé Crillon in Paris. After the World War II he became the editor-in-chief of the periodical 'Art et Industrie', in the years 1956-9 he was editor-in-chief of the periodical 'Prisme des Arts'. George published articles in both periodicals. Waldemar George died suddenly of a heart attack on 27th October 1970 in Paris. According to his own wish he was buried in Saint-Martin des Champs-Manche in Normandy. He was an authority as a critic both in France and in Germany. He knew and was friendly with the most prominent artists, philosophers and critics of the first decade of the past century. George was the author of over a hundred books, and hundreds of articles.The critic discovered and promoted a great number of young, foreign artists. He wrote with expertise, erudition and talent about various branches of art. 12 Illustrations.

Keywords

EN

W. GEORGE

Discipline

• ARTS_&_ARCHITECTURE: ARTS & ARCHITECTURE

• Publisher: Polska Akademia Nauk. Instytut Sztuki PAN
• Journal: Biuletyn Historii Sztuki
• Year: 2004
• Volume: 66
• Issue: 1-2
• Pages: 145-167
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Wierzbicka A.

• A. Wierzbicka, Instytut Sztuki PAN, ul. Dluga 26/28, 00-950 Warszawa, Poland

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

04PLAAAA0006148