The text was published on 15th of March 2018 on the blog 20th century Typographers; the idea of that post was proposed to me by our Avant-Garde specialist, our author doctor Lidia Głuchowska

Steven Heller

Stamp Of Approval For Polish Avant Garde

On November 11, 2018, Poland marks the 100th anniversary of the Second Polish Republic and independence from foreign domination upon signing the armistice that ended World War I (until the Nazis and Soviets carved it up again in 1939 prior to the start of World War II).

As a contribution to the celebration, Dr. Piotr Rypson, Polish design historian and deputy director for research at the National Museum in Warsaw, conceived a project that commemorates the 100th anniversary of the first Polish avant-garde exhibition of Polish Formists-Expressionists on October 27, 1917. The result is four postage stamps with illustrative and typographic work represented by Poland’s leading progressive artists.

The series was designed by Agata Tobolczyk, together with the date stamp and commemorative envelopes featuring constructivist sculpture by Katarzyna Kobro and a functionalist Warsaw villa by architect duo Lachert & Szanajca. The edition of 120,000 is sold by the Polish Post Office.

Below are stamps with covers of three avant-garde periodicals in the Formist (akin to the Constructivist) style and a theater program in an Expressionist manner.