Christmas and New Year’s cards – wishes from artists sent to the Muzeum Sztuki

The oldest cards date back to the late 1960s. A close reading of them, or rather an analysis of the artistic means used, gives much food for thought. The creativity of their authors seems infinite . This is not surprising. After all, we are dealing with people for whom creating new forms of expression and imagery is everyday bread – second nature, one might say.

Their miniatures are not always works on a given topic. It is often difficult to see any connection with Christmas or New Year, and yet both of these events have grown into a very rich layer of meaning, a series of icons, symbols, signs, messages.

Yes, there are works that refer directly to the Christian tradition of Christmas. They use well-known motifs of the Holy Family, Baby [M2] Jesus, the stable as the birthplace of the Saviour, the Star of Bethlehem, complemented by their contemporary entourage, such as a winter landscape warmed by a festively decorated Christmas tree. (In the case of New Year, such props as fireworks flashing in the sky, glasses of champagne, a ballroom filled with happy people, etc. seem natural). Suddenly, however, these symbols, legible to everyone, transform into sophisticated compositions, into abstractions, in which only the echoes of common ideas can be heard. The artists let their imagination run wild, they make graphics, draw, paint, cut out – but on the backs of their works, they still quite typically wish Merry Christmas or a Happy New Year to the director and the entire staff of the Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź.

The collection of Christmas cards numbers well over a hundred works and is as peculiar as it is unique set of unexpected works of art, nestled  on the peripheries of the Muzeum’s magnificent collection, in the Library.

Among the exhibits, it is worth seeing, among others, a card made by Serge Charchoune himself, four of whose works are included in the International Collection of Modern Art of the a.r. group.

Maciej Cholewiński