Wobec tradycji i wyzwań nowoczesności. Żydowskie artystki w Łodzi 1918–1930
Facing Tradition and Challenges of Modernity: Jewish Women Artist in Łódź, 1918-1930

Author(s): Irmina Gadowska
Subject(s): Fine Arts / Performing Arts, Jewish studies, Interwar Period (1920 - 1939)
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
Keywords: Art; Łódź; women's art; Jewish artists; Jewish art
Summary/Abstract: The 1920s were a period of dynamic development of the artistic community in Łódź, in which women played an important role. As members of groups operating in the city with various programs, they actively co-shaped the landscape of local culture through participation in exhibitions and, in several cases, educational activities. The noticeable presence of women from Łódź on the Łódź art market particularly concerned Jewish women, whose presence in this sphere often opened the way to emancipation and acculturation. On the basis of press mentions and catalogues, it is possible to identify over twenty names of artists actively practicing art. Most of them came from wealthy and middle-income merchant families and studied outside Łódź - in Warsaw, Krakow, Vilnius and abroad, only a few continued their careers in the next decade. The article is an attempt to outline the issue of the presence of Jewish women artists in the artistic environment of Łódź. Based on the analysis of sources and archives, he identifies names, analyzes the environment from which they came, recalls the exhibitions in which they took part, and asks questions about the reasons why their achievements remain outside the mainstream discussion about Polish art of the interwar period.

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