The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/all/20050525003104/http://www.polish-poster.com:80/wiktor-sadowski.htm
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| Born in 1956 in Olendry. In 1981 graduated of
Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts (diploma under the supervision of prof. Tomaszewski).
Specializes in posters and book illustration. |
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| SPECIAL OFFER |
If your order
exceeds $100 you will get a free Rembrandt
- Light from Rijn autographed
by
Wiktor Sadowski. |
When ordering
for more than $200 you can choose
2 free posters from among these titles: |
| Rembrandt
- The light from Rijn |
| Motivos
espanoles en la obra de Tadeusz Kantor |
| Dziady |
| Sevilla
92 |
Both posters
will be autographed by
the author - Wiktor Sadowski ! |
When placing an order
please tell us which
2 posters you would like to receive
(use "notes/instructions"
field on the ordering form)
Should you not inform us about your
selection we will not be able to send you the free posters. |
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| Major awards: |
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Gold Medal, IX/X Interntional Poster
Biennale,
Warsaw, Poland 1984 |
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Gold Medal, XI Biennale of Polish poster |
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1st and 3rd Prizes, 2nd International
Theater Poster Competition,
Osnabruck Germany 1986 |
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International Association of Business
Comunication/IABC/Award,
USA, 1990 |
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3rd Prize, Art Directors Club, 69th Annual
Exhibition,
New York, USA, 1990 |
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Gold Medal, Society of Illustrators,
New York, USA, 1994 |
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2nd Prize, 3rd International Theater
Poster Competition,
Osnabruck, Germany 1991 |
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| Browse Wiktor Sadowski posters by category : |
| film posters
| theater posters | opera
posters | advertising posters |
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| Wiktor
Sadowski paintings >> |
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| More about Wiktor Sadowski |
| The verdict of the 1984 Biennale
awarding a gold medal for poster on cultural themes, that is in a
domain which has always been the strongest in the Warsaw competition,
surprised both the public and the prize-winner himself, because as
a rule the top trophies were being granted to artists having to their
credit pretty big achievements and considerable recognition. The prize,
being adjudged for a concrete piece of art, usually expressed appreciation
of the whole output of the artist. This time, however, it fell to
a young graphic artist who graduated from the Warsaw Academy of Fine
Arts only three years before the contest and who had not even a dozen
posters on his account by that time. And that first prize was connected
with the participation in the exhibition of the prize-winning works
at the Museum of Poster in Wilanow which traditionally was fulfilling
the role of a final instance verifying the correctness of verdicts
of the jury. A single, showy firework of art was not sufficient in
a place where the artist had to present the whole arsenal of his creative
capabilities. Wiktor Sadowski, surprised by the sudden success, felt
anxiety about the confrontation at Wilanow which lay before him. |
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Certainly the awarded poster for the "Goya"
ballet evening was a piece of work of superior grade - the predaciousness
and expression of its graphics, the freshness of the proposal along
with obviousness and clarity supported by solid painter's skills -
the properties which characterized the parallel poster for "Yerma"
too - all this gave evidence that the artist has mastered very many
secrets of the difficult art of poster. Nevertheless it was difficult
to decide at that time whether that spectacular entry onto the international
forum would be of a permanent character. Today it is clear that the
jury aptly felt in Wiktor Sadowski the potential of a new, very clearly
outlined personality.
A brief talk with Sadowski shows how careful and critical is his attitude
to his career and his success. Once again it has turned out that it
is not the manual skill (certainly very important) that speaks of
the rank of artistic work, but the strength of the character of the
artist. |
Wiktor Sadowski adopted a very selective
approach to the numerous orders which began to flow after the Biennale.
First of all he concentrated on theatre topics and this was the domain
of his weightiest achievements. He also produced many designs for
posters concerning events and exhibitions and some extraordinary film
posters.
A key to understanding of Wiktor Sadowski’s personality is his
attitude to painting. Sadowski is fascinated with painting, not the
modern one but rather with the old art of northern, Netherlandic,
Flemish and Dutch painters. One must make associations with the painting
from that region as soon as one has seen the numerous designs of posters
and small pictures painted 'con amore', which hang on the walls of
the artist’s apartment. Asked about it Sadowski does not renounce
these connections - he confirms them heartily. His favorite painters
are Memling, Bosch and Breughel. And so we find ourselves in a paradoxical
situation. The poster - a mainly 20th century domain, is nowadays
dominated first of all by technical means, especially photography.
One might think that the traditional use of a brush in this domain
is anachronic, not to speak of reaching to so distant epochs in search
of inspiration. But it was just a modern vision of the topic is Sadowski
posters that had fascinated the foreign members of the jury.
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Walter Herdeg, the well-known
publisher of the "Graphis" was beginning each talk at the
opening of the Biennale from revising over the values of Sadowski's
works. It is true that this poster-painter, contrary to many of his
Polish colleagues making use of the art of painting, has thoroughly
penetrated the arcana of the domain of art. As a result when looking
at his posters we see rather color than paint, and the matter of shape
has its measurable plastic weight. It is, however, the strong linking
of his workshop with the clearly formulated message of contents that
decides about the final effect. Sadowski's works show a plastic synthesis
with clearly literary implications. As the author puts it, a poster
is for him an aphorism. He designs posters not only because of his
inner need to paint but also because of his need to speak. |
| Wiktor Sadowski's posters
incessantly continue a dialogue with the spectator. "Ludus Danielis"
- the fate of medieval man, has been presented almost literally; only
the triangle of the Providence is of stone and its rays are vertical
instead of being concentric, thus changing into a Gothic cathedral.
As a result, the very message, not being blurred, brings about even
stronger associations in the spectator. In "Crime and Punishment"
the flame of a candle transferred onto the fingers causes almost a
physical pain in the spectator. A distant metaphor - but how perfectly
it gets down to the crux of the complicated matter of Dostoyevsky's
work. In a poster designed for the exhibition of 100 best posters
a clown irritates his eye with a painter's brush - an excellent association
with the essence of poster which should alarm the spectator's eye,
ask him questions and force to reflections. |
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Such were always the most
interesting Polish posters, and such are many of Sadowski's posters.
Because, irrespective of his fascination with the distant circles
of painting, his art would be impossible without communion with the
Polish tradition of poster. Wiktor Sadowski himself readily admits
the existence of these links. Particularly close to him were such
Polish poster-makers as Franciszek Starowieyski, Jan Jaromir Aleksiun
or Jerzy Czerniawski. One should enjoy the fact that the painter's
current in the sphere of Polish poster has been enriched with a new,
interesting individuality. It is a good prognostic for the Polish
poster as a whole. |
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