Artist: Błażej Ostoja Lniski
Editor: Dorota Folga-Januszewska
Published: 2019
ISBN: 978-83-7576-445-1
Binding: Harcover
Format: 150 × 200 mm (6 x 7.88 in)
Language: Polish and English
Number of pages: 64
Number of Pictures: 57
About the artist:
This mini-album features the works of Błażej Ostoja Lniski, an exceptionally talented artist and professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. Lniski’s expertise extends beyond poster art to encompass lithography, painting, illustration, book, and font design. He is a laureate of numerous awards, including the Tadeusz Kulisiewicz Award, Best Graphic Design of the Month, the Polish Association of Book Publishers Award for the Most Beautiful Book of the Year for “Władysław Winiecki. The Great Vaudeville,” and the Honorary Award of the Polish Association of Bibliophiles. Introduced by Dorota Folga-Januszewska, the book presents nearly sixty reproductions of Ostoja Lniski’s diverse and influential works.
O artyście:
Ostoja Lniski. Plakaty to kolejna miniatura w popularnej serii o polskich plakacistach. Bohaterem tomiku jest Błażej Ostoja Lniski, niezwykle utalentowany artysta, profesor warszawskiej Akademii Sztuk Pięknych, który specjalizuje się nie tylko w sztuce plakatu, lecz zajmuje się także litografią, malarstwem, ilustracją, projektowaniem książek i fontów. Jest laureatem wielu nagród, m.in. Nagrody im. Tadeusza Kulisiewicza, Najlepszej Grafiki Miesiąca, PTWK za Najpiękniejszą Książkę Roku („Władysław Winiecki. Wielki wodewil”) i Nagrody Honorowej Towarzystwa Bibliofilów Polskich. Książka, opatrzona wstępem Doroty Folgi-Januszewskiej, zawiera niemal sześćdziesiąt reprodukcji prac Ostoja Lniskiego.
About the Polish School of Posters:
The Polish School of Posters, renowned worldwide, is esteemed as a pinnacle in contemporary poster art, drawing parallels to the La Belle Époque French posters of the 1890s. This school of design marries the aesthetic qualities of painting with the concise and metaphorical nature of poster art. Emerging in the early 1950s, it has cultivated distinctive features such as painterly gestures, a strong sense of line, and the use of vibrant colors. These elements, combined with a flair for individual personality, humor, and fantasy, have blurred the lines between designer and artist.
The influence of the Polish Poster School on the global evolution of graphic design in poster art is significant. Its primary contribution lies in its strategic use of suggestion and clever allusions. Drawing from the rich palette of folk art, the posters integrate bold and vivid colors with printed slogans—often rendered by hand—and familiar symbols to forge a succinct and creative metaphor. These posters, as a fusion of text and imagery, generate a unique aesthetic tension.
Beyond their visual appeal, posters from the Polish School also convey the artist’s emotional engagement with the subject. They transcend mere objective representation; they embody the artist’s personal interpretation and commentary on both the subject matter and societal issues.