Stanisław ŚLIWIŃSKI (1893-1940), Enchanted Beauty - scenographic design, 1926

to a play by Artur Oppman staged in 1926 at the Polish Theater in Warsaw, directed by Konstanty Tatarkiewicz; set and costume design by St. Sliwinski.
pencil, gouache, watercolor, paper; 32.7 x 49 cm (light frame);
Signed and dated p. d.: STŚLIW 26.
At the same time as his scenographic activities, he practiced easel painting. He exhibited for the first time in 1924 in the salon of Cz. Garliński in Warsaw). In 1936 he celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of his work and on this occasion exhibited his works in Warsaw's Zachęta Gallery. His stage design projects were also exhibited abroad, including in 1926 at the International Theater Exhibition in New York, and in 1937 at the International Exhibition in Paris (here he received the Grand Prix) . From 1916 to 1939 he designed more than two hundred decorations, most of them for the Polish Theater (one hundred and thirty-six) and the Little Theater (seventy-one). Raised on the models of the old backstage decoration, he moved on to architectural development of the stage, and was proficient in the use of acute abbreviation (e.g., a synthetically framed section of a building) to avoid long-winded descriptiveness. Circa. 1930 he was counted among the most modern Polish stage designers. He created the most interesting decorations in cooperation with prominent directors: L. Schiller, A. Wegierka, E. Wierciński.