Polish art déco poster

The style that was emerging in Europe at that time was embraced and creatively adapted by Polish artists. The modernity, simplicity, and decorative nature of the art déco movement, enriched with elements characteristic of Polish folk art, made this trend almost the official style of the reborn Poland.

The distinctive formal features of art déco—clear, geometric lines, flat color fields, rhythmic compositions composed of simplified, decoratively arranged elements highlighting the clarity of the subject—found their fullest expression in the applied graphics of those years, especially in poster art. Posters played an important role in the political, economic, social, and cultural life of the newly independent state. By their very definition, they served best to reinforce, inform, and raise awareness of important and fashionable ideas and issues.

Thanks to the presentation of nearly one hundred art déco posters from the extensive collections of the Museum of Ethnography and Artistic Crafts in Lviv, an opportunity arose for this highly significant branch of Polish 20th-century art to be better recognized by contemporary Polish audiences. Stalowa Wola is an especially fitting location for such an exhibition, as it was a city founded during the Second Polish Republic and built in the art déco style.

The exhibition also transports visitors to the atmosphere of those years, recalling, through the content of the displayed posters, events, facts, and items inextricably linked to the interwar period.