A C O M M O N E U R O P E I N A R T

European integration is usually mentioned when new treaties are being signed, when new countries are joining the EC or when an economic crisis lurks on the horizon. Artists have also taken part in the debate on a common Europe, and they were the first to treat it as a whole, long before the politicians and economists did. In the 5th century B.C. in Greece, artists began to illustrate the Greek myths – that is how the first relief dedicated to the legend of the origins of Europe came into existence (the relief is a part of the Selinunte Temple, erected during the same period). Thus these Greek artists instigated the idea of an integrated Europe. During the successive twenty-five centuries, their followers – whenever they chose the myth of Europa as their topic – became the forerunners of the idea of European integration.

In the legend of Europa, Zeus in the form of a bull kidnapped a princess from Phoenicia (the area around modern-day Lebanon) to Crete, taking with her from east to west the fruit of the older Fertile Crescent civilisations, and transferred this abundance to the younger colonies on the Aegean Islands. The legend of Europa tells the story of the origins of classic Mediterranean civilisation, pointing to its eastern sources. On the back of the bull, Europa followed the Sun from east to west, from the old civilisation to the new one, from the familiar to the unfamiliar, to the unknown. The journey of Europa highlights not only the sources of our civilisation but also its essential features: movement and variability. British historian Norman Davies wrote that contrary to the great civilisations of Egypt, Mesopotamia and China which developed slowly, Mediterranean civilisation was characterised from the beginning by movement, change, uncertainty, excitement and dynamism.

E u r o p e a n i d e n t i t y a n d t h e m y t h o f E u r o p e i n a r t

The exhibit ion was an ini t iat ive by the Ministr y of Foreign Af fairs to commemorate three signi f icant events in the recent history of Poland: the 25th anniversary of democratic transformation which began in 1989; the 15th anniversary of Poland’s NATO membership; and the 10 th anniversary of Poland joining the EU and tak ing par t in the European Par l iamentary elec t ions. Apar t f rom commemorating these events which are so momentous for the Polish nation, the exhibit ion showcases the European roots of Polish culture and the European identi ty of Poles. I t also promotes Polish ar t ists and Polish contemporary ar t .

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And, her fear now removed by degrees, at one moment he gives his breast to be patted by the hand of the virgin; at another, his horns to be wreathed with new-made garlands. The virgin of royal birth even ventured to sit down upon the back of the bull, not knowing upon whom she was pressing. Then the God, by degrees moving from the land, and from the dry shore, places the fictitious hoofs of his feet in the waves near the brink. Then he goes still further, and carries his prize over the expanse of the midst of the ocean. She is affrighted, and, borne off, looks back on the shore she has left; and with her right hand she grasps his horn, while the other is placed on his back; her waving garments are ruffled by the breeze. Ovid, "Metamorphoses"Translated by: Henry Thomas Riley

STROzzITriumphant Europe

Bernardo Strozzi The Abduction of Europa oil on canvas, 17th century

FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM IN POZNAŃ

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The myth of Europa is based on three elements: the bull, the woman and the sea. Since the Palaeolithic Age, the bull has been perceived as an element of nature, a symbol of strength and fertility. In Persia, the bull symbolised the origin of life for both flora and fauna. In ancient Egypt, bull hide was used to wrap dead bodies to ensure their safe journey to “the other side”. Today, the bull also often symbolises financial power – one famous representation of the “bull market” is Arturo di Modica’s 1989 sculpture of a powerful golden bull which he generously left on Wall Street.

dE GhEyNProtagonists of the Greek myth:

the bull-zeus and Princess Europa

Jacob de Gheyn II The Abduction of Europa after Karel van Mander copper plate engraving, 16th/17th century

FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE CZARTORYSKI FOUNDATION

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A woman brings a humane, earthly element to the myth of Europa, thus neutralising the divinity of Zeus, the bull. In Greek mythology, Europa represents one of the incarnations of the Great Mother of Earth. It is Europa who “tames” the divine power of the bull.The third element of the myth, that is the sea which surrounds the European continent on three sides, combines in itself all the richness of symbolic associations: human desire to get to know other religions, other ways of life and other cultures. The Mediterranean, which Herodotus calls the “Great Sea”, was the most important among all the seas. It became a spatial and temporal symbolic link – it connects the memory of our common European past with the spatial idea of European integration.

BONASONEProtagonists of the Greek myth:

the bull-zeus and Princess Europa

Giulio Bonasone The Abduction of Europa after Raphael copper plate engraving, 1546

FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE CZARTORYSKI FOUNDATION

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A painter from Gdańsk, Andreas Stech (1635-1697), focused in his work on mythological themes; he was famous for his illustrations of scientific works, such as “Firmamentum Sobiescianum sive Uranographia” by Johannes Hevelius.

STEChMythological inspiration

in 17th-century art culture

Andreas Stech The Abduction of Europa gouache, c. 1676

FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM IN GDAŃSK

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Wawel Castle houses a masterpiece by Marcantonio Franceschini (1648-1729), entitled “The Abduction of Europa”. The canvas conveys the emotional state of the kidnapper and the kidnapped, emanating harmony and calmness, showing Europa resigning herself to her fate and letting Zeus carry her away. Marcantonio Franceschini was associated with the Bolognese school, represented also by Annibale Carracci, Guido Reni, Domenichino, and Francesco Albani. The painting was initially attributed to Albani and his disciple Carlo Cignani, however Franceschini was later acknowledged as its author. The composition and way of approaching the theme resembles that of “The Abduction of Europa” by Francesco Albani (Colonna Gallery, Rome) or a painting by Carlo Cignani.

FRANCESChINIMythological inspirations in artistic

culture of the 17th century

Marcantonio Franceschini The Abduction of Europa oil on canvas, late 17th century

FROM THE COLLECTION OF WAWEL CASTLE

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Pankiewicz, a representative of Polish colourism and a friend of Pierre Bonnard with whom he shared a love of Mediterranean landscapes, received a commission from Wawel Castle to decorate one of the rooms in the tower beside the so-called Hen’s Foot Tower. This decorative project was never completed, but it did result in these mythological scenes telling the story of Europa set amongst Mediterranean scenery for us to admire.

PANKIEwICzThe beauty of

an ancient legend

Józef Pankiewicz The Abduction of Europa oil on canvas, 1929-1930

FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM IN WARSAW

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Józef Pankiewicz The Abduction of Europa oil on canvas, 1929-1930

FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM IN WARSAW

In 1927, the Pankiewicz family stayed in La Ciotat, a port close to Marseille. The eye-pleasing rambling coastline and picturesque landscape inspired a new approach to composition. In Pankiewicz’s paintings from this period, we come across long-range perspectives with dominating foregrounds that nevertheless allow the eye of the viewer to wander off towards the rolling hills on the horizon. The foreground is filled with expansive trees that catch the eye and simultaneously direct it towards the sea. It is a masterly pictorial presentation, luminous and full of air.E. Charazińska.

PANKIEwICzThe beauty of

an ancient legend

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The dramatic axis of Hoffman’s oeuvre is the relationship between the masculine and the feminine world. The unity of these two worlds, which cannot exist without each other but at the same time are mutually incomprehensible and dramatically impenetrable, is accomplished via the countless versions, both painted and drawn, which should all probably have a single common title “That Pair”... Zbylut Grzywacz

hOFFMANNA hedonistic Europa

Adam Hoffmann Europa charcoal on paper, 1967

FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE DYLĄG GALLERY

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STAROwIEySKIThe Antemurale Myth

Franciszek Starowieyski divina Polonia fresco, 1998

PROPERTY OF THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF POLANDTHE FRESCO CAN BE FOUND IN THE FORMER PREMISES OF THE PERMANENT REPRESENTATION OF

THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND TO THE EUROPEAN UNION IN BRUSSELS

“The average Polish nobleman came to believe that when defending the south-eastern border of his country against the Tatars, the Turks or Moscow, he was protecting all of Christianity,” writes Janusz Tazbir, a Polish historian. “Almost from the beginning, it [antemurale] had a double edge: religious (it was considered a barrier

against Islam) and political (it was supposed to protect European civilisation from the Asian barbarians).” The idea of antemurale evolved, from anti-Turkish and anti-Cossack in the 17th century, to anti-Russian in the 19th century, and eventually a wall against communism in the 20th century.

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The edge of the metal foil background resembles the Baltic coastline of Poland. Attached to it is a photograph of a gothic cathedral and another representing a modern town (it appears to be the multi-level centre of Lyon). In the foreground, there is a hill upon which stands the figure of Christ tending to a lamb. Above it all, against a dark background (probably the Baltic) and crowning the scene, the artist has placed a sculpture-like composition consisting of a black eagle carrying in its claws a woman’s hand (made of soap) with a tail of braided human hair. The bull capturing Europa has been replaced with a black bird, while Europa has been reduced to certain female attributes – a slender graceful hand and a thick lustrous braid. The figure of Christ references, on one hand, Poland’s Catholic traditions, and, on the other, Polish patriotism – a suffering Jesus represents a suffering Poland. References to communism can be found in the architecture of overbearing tower blocks from the epoch of “building homes for the nation”.

This is an assemblage with attached sculpture-like elements. Hasior’s replacement of the snow-white bull (an antique symbol of adventure, but also of love and safety) with a black predatory eagle, carrying in its claws the willowy hand of a woman, Europa, is a reference to the 20th-century European experience: fascism and communism. Under these two totalitarian systems, Europeans were above all deprived of their sense of security. The bull, according to ancient symbolism, was supposed to provide such a sense. The use of soap for the woman’s hand seems to symbolise the sensitivity and fragility of the human body, which can easily be annihilated. After all, in the era of concentration camps, soap was made from human fat. The dread is compounded by the addition of braided human hair, which in the imaginations of Europeans is associated with death camps, the macabre “thresholds of hell” where the condemned had their remaining attributes of humanity taken away: glasses, hair, prostheses, and children’s toys.

hASIORPolish messianism

Władysław Hasior The Abduction of Europa assemblage, 1983

FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE TATRA MUSEUM IN ZAKOPANE

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Władysław Hasior The Abduction of Europa assemblage, 1983

FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE TATRA MUSEUM IN ZAKOPANE

All of Hasior’s works dedicated to the myth of Europa (he made four) reflect the specific historical experience of central eastern Europe. They all, more or less directly, refer to the roots of Ovid’s fable on the woman, the bull and the sea. The ancient myth has been transposed by the artist to 20th-century artistic sensitivities – the juxtaposition of contrasting materials goes beyond the two-dimensional space of the picture, and appeals to the impressions of contemporary viewers by allowing individual and free interpretation.

hASIORPolish messianism

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GRzywACzThe end of communism

in Europe or communism defeated

The paintings of Zbylut Grzywacz present the national myth in its purest form, without any admixtures of religious symbolism. An excellent example of the way in which the myth of Europe has changed in the course of the 20th century into the myth of the antemurale. The crimson flayed body of the powerful stampeding bull (already lame without a leg) is indubitably an allegory of communism. The worker wearing the hardhat of a shipyard worker or miner is, in turn, an allegory for the Polish working class and the political movement Solidarity, while the swooning, exhausted woman, carried by the bull, represents Poland. Taking the bull by the horns, literally and metaphorically, the worker is not only saving Poland from a destructive system, but also quite possibly protecting Europe against the communist onslaught.Polish censors did not like Grzywacz. Only after Solidarity came into existence did a censor call us and say that we were now free to exhibit his work.M. Szewczuk, Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Radom

Zbylut Grzywacz Ursus, a character from “Quo Vadis” acrylic on canvas, 1979

FROM THE COLLECTION OF MUZEUM SZTUKI IN ŁÓDŹ, © JOANNA BONIECKA

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Zbylut Grzywacz Ursus, The Abduction of Europe I oil on canvas, 1977

FROM THE COLLECTION OF MUZEUM SZTUKI IN ŁÓDŹ, © JOANNA BONIECKA

GRzywACzThe end of communism

in Europe or communism defeated

This painting belongs to a cycle entitled “Wołowy” (Beef) and in this context its title “The Abduction of Europa I” has a double, symbolic meaning. In the 1970s in Poland, a bull had not quite mythological but rather prosaic, mundane symbolism. For Polish housewives whose grey figures fill this and other Grzywacz paintings, the bull represented rather a piece of highly desirable beef to be cooked for dinner, not the kidnapper and lover of Europa. Thus in the literally starved imagination of the nation, the bull could easily be transformed, as in “The Abduction of Europa” by Grzywacz, into a large cut of blood-red meat. The painting features two colourful figures – a brutally-skinned bull and a fat naked woman clinging to its back. In the background, there is a long queue of

grey and identical, presumably exclusively female, exhausted figures. The victim–kidnapper relationship is not as obvious as it might appear at first glance. The role of victim seems to have been given to the bull, kidnapped by a triumphant housewife of the socialist era, to be eaten for dinner. The housewife is depicted as the aggressor, the conqueror and the person who triumphs. She triumphs in the meat battle, winning over the grey crowd of women-competitors queuing for the butcher’s shop. The bitter and distressing vision of Poland suffering in the totalitarian epoch morphs again in a later work of Grzywacz entitled “Ursus” into an open fight between Solidarity and the hated system, symbolised by the red bull – an allegory of communism.

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In “Europa 2000”, Dwurnik presents a monumental picture of Poland, with its luminaries and mortal enemies in Soviet uniforms, and a cold, distant Europa minding her own affairs, depicted in the background. The year 2000 is a symbolic date for “Europe” – it is the beginning of a new millennium and signals Poland’s approaching membership to the EU, opening new prospects for the country, a uniquely positive moment amongst all its tragic history over the past few centuries. That seems to be Dwurnik’s message – as a sensitive and astute observer of the changes taking place in Poland, he starts in the 1960s going through the significant events up until the date of the painting. For example, the mineshaft in the background reminds viewers of the miners who were killed by ZOMO, the citizen’s militia, while the safety helmet of Wałęsa represents the sacrifice of the shipyard workers.

dwURNIKEurope and a Polish Nike,

the goddess of victory

Edward Dwurnik Europa 2000 oil on canvas, 2000

PROPERTY OF THE ARTIST

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The winged figure of the goddess of victory is a metaphor for a victorious Poland. The painting shows the artist’s hope for victory rather than the actual political situation of Poland after 1984. The victory would come five years later in the form of regime changes and the first democratic government after years of communist dictatorship.The antemurale myth has functioned in the historic consciousness of central-eastern Europe for over five centuries. The myth also exists in a polonised national version where it becomes a story not just about Europe but rather a legend about the special mission of Poland in Europe – Poland as the antemurale of Christianity and of Europe (Starowieyski, Hasior, Grzywacz, Dwurnik). Polish art shows how the antemurale myth was revived during Solidarity and following martial law in Poland in 1981.

dwURNIKEurope and a Polish Nike,

the goddess of victory

Edward Dwurnik Polish Nike oil on canvas, 1984

FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE VAN ABBEMUSEUM IN EINDHOVEN

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When Dwurnik presents Polonia wearing a crown he treats her as the flesh of nation. The role of women as victims or saviours is not uniquely characteristic to Polish political mythology. “Death as self-sacrifice is treated in western culture as a part of feminine identity,” writes Professor Maria Janion. “At the centre of 19th and 20th century culture, there are women who gave their life to save lovers and even nations.”

dwURNIKEurope and a Polish Nike,

the goddess of victory

Edward Dwurnik Polonia oil on canvas, 1984

PRIVATE COLLECTION

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MAjEwSKIA typographic Europa

There is nothing to add here, everything is evident. I wanted to do it in a different way to others, using only typographic elements – something common to all languages, though we will not find any explicit sentences in this work. I wanted this picture to be humorous and fit our times. Thus the bull is riding a vehicle, which might be called a motorcycle or something like that... Lech Majewski

Lech Majewski Europe digital print, 2010

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On the day Poland joined the European Union, the 1st of May 2004, the cover of Der Spiegel featured a drawing by Rafał Olbiński entitled “The Abduction of Europa”.

OlBI¡SKIPoland in the EU

Rafał Olbiƒski The Abduction of Europa drawing, 2004

PRIVATE COLLECTION

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Following the dramatic events of the Euromaidan and in reaction to the annexation of Crimea by Russia, on 21 March 2014 the EU and Ukraine signed the political part of an accession agreement.In a prophetic presentation by Ivan Kulik in 2009, the legend of Europa kidnapped by Zeus takes place on a ship. The vision of the Ukrainian artist is optimistic – in mythology, the ship has always been a symbol of safety and salvation.

Iwan Kulik is a Ukrainian by origin and a Pole by choice. He was born in 1959 in a little village on the left bank of the River Dnie-per, near Cherkasy. Drawing has been his passion ever since he was a boy. He went to an art school for talented children, studied art at the National Pedagogical University in Dnepropetrovsk and then at the Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Arts. Since 1990, he has worked and lived in Poland.

KUlIKUkraine in the EU

Iwan Kulik The Abduction of Europa oil on canvas, 2009

KOLEKCJA PRYwATNA

To commemorate those who died during the Euromaidan

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This multitude of ideas tackling the singular theme of the myth of Europa, a concept originating in antiquity, is strong evidence of the unity and cohesion of European civilisation. From the very beginning, fascination with a great tale was at its source. In an entry from “Encyclopédie ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers”, its author Voltaire draws attention to connections between mythology and poetry, sculpture and painting, warning against dismissing those fables. Moreover, he argues that unfamiliarity with them is an unforgiveable proof of ignorance and a shameful gap in education. The protagonists of the myth of Europa, the bull and the princess, are a timeless unique pair whose constantly changing relationship represents a wide range of symbolic meanings: love, hatred, tenderness, violence, force, sadism, devotion and desire. But in the end, for artists, regardless of their geographical origin or the epoch in which they lived, the bond between Zeus and Europa has been not just a romance between a God and a princess, nor merely the story of Europa in paintings, but a story of love between a man and a woman.

THE MYTH OF EUROPA, as well as other ancient and Christian motifs present in Polish contemporary painting, emphatically prove the European nature of Polish culture and identity.

Author: Beata Klocek di BiasioConsultants: Professor Elżbieta Mazur and Professor Bohdan Michalski

Translation: Magdalena Fortecka

Copyright © Beata Klocek di Biasio, warsaw, 2014