Gottlieb Leopold
Leopold Gottlieb was a painter, graphic artist and a graphic designer who was active in Krakow, Paris and Vienna. He was born in 1879 and died in 1934. He was the youngest brother of Maurycy Gottlieb who was an outstanding 19th-century painter of Jewish origin. Leopold Gottlieb studied under the supervision of Jacek Malczewski and Teodor Axentowicz at Akademia Sztuk Pięknych (Academy of Gine Arts) in Krakow from 1896 to 1902. He continued his studies in Munich at a studio of Anton Azbe. Gottlieb lived permanently in Paris since 1904. He was the initiator of the Krakow “Grupa Pięciu” (“Group of Five”) which was established in 1905. Members of the group were: Vlastimil Hofman, Mieczysław Jakimowicz, Jan Rembowski and Witold Wojtkiewicz. Gottlieb and his friends exhibited their works in Krakow (1905), Lvov (1906), Vienna (1906, 1908), Berlin (1906) and Warsaw (1907). Gottlieb taught painting periodically at Becalel School in Jerusalem around 1910. Two tears later first individual exhibition of Gottlieb’s works took place at Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Sztuk Pięknych (“Friends of the Fine Arts Society”) in Lvov. Gottlieb took part in exhibitions of Polish expressionists (formists) in 1917-1919. In Paris, he was involved in Montparnasse circle and especially bound with the circle of Mojżesz Kisling, Eugeniusz Zak and Melania Mutermilch. His works were promoted by leading critics, André Salmon and Adolf Basler. Gottlieb exhibited his works at salons in Paris: Autumn salon, Independent salon, Société Nationale des Beaux Artes and Tuileries. He took part in Secession exhibitions in Vienna. He also took part in the exposition of Polish works, which was organized at Galeries Jose Dalmau in Barcelona in 1912.
During the period of the First World War, Leopold Gottlieb fought with the Polish Legions under the command of Józef Piłsudski. At that time, Gottlieb was also occupied with drawing everyday lives of soldiers and brothers in arms. He wrote down camp episodes, sketched portraits of commanding officers and soldiers. Gottlieb presented his drawings and lithographs at the “Polish Legions Exhibition” in Lublin in 1917. After the warfare had finished, Gottlieb settled in Poland and then lived in Vienna and in Germany. He was a member of Vienna “Hagenbund” between 1920 and 1930. In 1926 Gottlieb returned to Paris where he exhibited at Galerie aux Quatre Chemins (1927), d'Art de Montparnasse (1928), Bonaparte (1930) and Zak (1934). He joined the exhibition of Stowarzyszenie Artystów Polskich Rytm (“Society of Polish Artists Rhythm”) in 1929 and 1930.
At the very beginning of his career, Leopold Gottlieb remained under the strong influence of the stylistics of the Young Poland movement. He painted with a subtly modulated patch of color which was surrounded by a soft, smooth contour. Characters which he portrayed were fallen into a reverie and were overpowered by a decadent weakness. Gottlieb placed them on a shallow and narrow painting space with a neutral background. Thin and slender hands painted with a nervous movement assumed a special expression. What was typical for these images was a melancholic air and deepened psychological characteristics of the models (for example portraits of André Salmon, Jules Pascin, Diego de Rivera, Stefan Żeromski, Jan Kasprowicz).
Human silhouettes were placed by Gottlieb also in decorative compositions showing desolated towns and vast landscapes. Gottlieb and Ludwik Cylkow published “Teka litografii” (“File of lithographs”) in Paris in 1904. He added to it his own compositions –Pogrzeb (Funeral), Wierzba nad Wodą (Willow over the Water) and Wymarłe Miasto (Deserted Town). All of them evoked nostalgic mood, symbolism of passing of time and death. Moreover, an echo of works of Maurice Denis and Paris Les Nabis can be heard from decorative harmonizing of homogenous patches of Gottlieb’s works.
Gottlieb’s paintings from the 1910s often present motifs from the Bible. These paintings have a number of colors limited to reddish browns and greens. Moreover, there is an intensification of linear rhythm of the composition which is built by arched segments of lines, which are repeated in both human figures and in the landscape. This rhythm causes the paintings to acquire musical features and Evangelical motifs transform into a ritual rite. The artist processed motifs of Christian iconography in an original way, working out in many versions themes from the Old and the New Testament (Chrystus jako Żebrak [Christ as a Beggar], Ostatnia wieczerza [the Last Supper], Pietà). The majority of Gottlieb’s works from the 1920s were predominantly multifigural compositions showing work and meal scenes, which were metaphors of humor existence. Expressionistically flattened painting space is filled with ethereal human silhouettes with over-stylized, slendered proportions and surrounded sometimes by a black contour. A symbolic meaning of these paintings was intensified by a gloomy and dull scale of colors. Since 1927 Gottlieb narrowed drastically the number of colors. He started using several basic tones, light blues, pinks and browns. He enriched shades of mother-of-pearl with stresses of white. The artist decidedly synthesized forms by taking away their substantialism (Wieczerza rybaków [Fishermen’s Supper], 1926; Trzy kobiety [Three Women]; approximately 1932; Modlący się Żydzi [Praying Jews], 1933; Taniec [Dance], 1934). In the 1930s the decorative values of his paintings based on a thick compositional rhythm which was outlined by exceptional characters in the interiors. The characters were almost deprived of physiognomical features. Soft contour brings out outlines of the forms from the white space. The contour sometimes disappears, sometimes it is blue, green or black (Narodziny Dziecka Ii [The Birth of Ii Child], 1930; Mleczarnia [Dairy], 1931-33; Białe Kobiety [White Women], 1933).
Irena Kossowska
Instytut Sztuki Polskiej Akademii Nauk (Institute of Art Polish Academy Of Sciences)
