Tadeusz Kantor, “Abstract Art is Dead, Long Live Abstract Art: On Art Informel,” translated from Polish by Joanna Wolańska, originally published as “Abstrakcja umarła, niech żyje abstrakcja: O sztuce informel,”, Życie Literackie, supplement to Plastyka, no. 50, 1957, 6; reprinted in Krzysztof Pleśniarowicz (ed.) Tadeusz Kantor. Pisma, 1934–1974 (Krakow: Cricoteka, Centre for Documentation of the Art of Tadeusz Kantor, 2004–2005), 167–169

doi:10.4324/9781003009979-128103

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Tadeusz Kantor, “Abstract Art is Dead, Long Live Abstract Art: On Art Informel,” translated from Polish by Joanna Wolańska, originally published as “Abstrakcja umarła, niech żyje abstrakcja: O sztuce informel,”, Życie Literackie, supplement to Plastyka, no. 50, 1957, 6; reprinted in Krzysztof Pleśniarowicz (ed.) Tadeusz Kantor. Pisma, 1934–1974 (Krakow: Cricoteka, Centre for Documentation of the Art of Tadeusz Kantor, 2004–2005), 167–169

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ABSTRACT

The renowned theatre director and painter Tadeusz Kantor, wrote after discovering French Informel and American Abstract Expressionism during a stay in Paris in 1955. It functioned as an artistic manifesto, in which he opposed the earlier tradition of avant-garde geometric abstraction, focusing instead on issues of “matter” and “accident.” Without suggesting direct influence, one should note that while his theoretical approach differed from that of action painting, his Informel canvases of that period bear resemblance to Pollock’s work. For various reasons, painting at the beginning of the twentieth century was based on pure intellect. Contemporary art challenged the intellect, its crude, dry, non-organic content; using intellect’s own tools, contemporary art examined the fabric, functioning, and abilities of the intellect. The art of today, concerning itself with this bastard of reality, has for a lyrical quality and is suggestive of human poetry.