Witkacy: Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz (1885-1939) by Mark Rudnicki

Dramatist, poet, novelist, painter, photographer, art theorist, and philosopher, Witkacy was one of the leading members of Poland's poetic and artistic avant-garde of the first half of the 20th century.

Self-portrait, 1938 pastel Witkacy

Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz's birth, life, death, and even his reburial are shrouded in mystery and legend. He was born on February 24, 1885. Even upon entering this world, Witkacy could not avoid playing mysterious games - his birth certificate inexplicably certifies March 24, 1885 as his date of birth. As a child he was encouraged to develop his individuality and creativity in as many outlets as possible:

He was schooled at home and pursued diverse interests to promote creativity in painting, music, photography, literature, science and philosophy; however, his most important and lasting creation came much later in life; shortly after he returned from his military service in Russia, he created Witkacy -- a combination of his last and middle names. He began signing his experimental paintings, and most of his correspondence by this name, or some variation of it (Witkac, Witkatze, Witkacjusz, Vitkacius, Vitecasse), which helped to distinguish him from his famous father with the same name. Unfortunately, this creation was simply a manifestation of an identity crisis. Due to his eclectic education, Witkacy attempted throughout his life to distinguish himself in many outlets, as a painter, aesthetician, playwright, novelist, and philosopher, and, through whatever means necessary: marriage, sex, drugs, or alcohol. All of these efforts to justify his existence proved futile during his lifetime, as he was privately and publicly, for the most part, unsuccessful; only posthumously did his work receive proper attention, and, subsequently, national and international success. Today hardly a season goes by without a performance of one of his dramas or an exhibition of his paintings. His dramas and paintings have followers all over the world.

He was determined to be an artist and, in his youth, his artwork received some favorable critical attention. While he enjoyed modest success and found kindred spirits for a while in the Formist group in Krakow, he remained an outsider to the cultural and literary establishments of his day. Most, criticized the artist and his theories as the ravings of a maniac or dilettante, who produced nonsensical works with no redeeming qualities. For philosophers, he was intriguing, but lacked technical training; for writers, he was a painter trying his hand at writing; for painters he was too 'literary.' Additionally, his methods and lifestyle - as a drug experimenter, alcoholic, and bohemian sex addict - seemed to overshadow his artistic output. Witkacy, likewise, found little alure in the movements of the day such as abstract art, futurism, Dadaism, and constructivism. Alienated from all of these avant-garde movements, he found no group to support him and no followers to reinforce his fragile ego.

Witkacy: multiple self-portrait reflected in mirrors, 1915-6. Photograph

While Witkacy remained on the outer limits of the cultural and literary movements of his day, his unique experiences afforded him insight into questions regarding philosophy and provided material for his creative endeavors. His experiences included being raised in the elite literary culture of Zakopane by an enlightened, and often demanding, father. He witnessed through his travels revolutions in art, music, and science. Trends in mathematics and science led to the world being perceived in radically new ways, which subsequently manifested itself in the dissonance and atonality in the arts, in particular, Picasso's cubism. Additionally, he was personally introduced to psychoanalysis as he underwent treatment; he witnessed the exotic non-western cultures on his trip with his dear friend Bronislaw Malinowski to Ceylon and Australia; and lastly and perhaps the most significant experience occurred when he participated in both World War I trench warfare and the Russian Revolution on the streets of Leningrad (then Petrograd). He witnessed the overthrow of old Empires and events that changed the course of history. These experiences were internalized, and later utilized in his work.

In 1918, after being released from the Russian Army, Witkacy returned home to an independent Poland. During the next twenty years, he had an incredible outpouring of activity. He wrote over 30 dramas, including The Madman and the Nun or Nothing is so bad that it cannot be made worse; The Mother, The Water Hen; he wrote three novels, with Insatiability gaining the most attention. He painted dozens of formist paintings and hundreds possibly thousands of portraits. In the 1930's he established the Artistic Theater in Zakopane, and devoted the last years of his life to philosophy, most notably to his magnum opus, Concepts and Principles Implied by the Concept of Existence (1935).

Eccentric lifestyle

When exploring the work of a particular writer, Witkacy often found it ''a matter of importance'' to have an image of the thinker's face (gęba) in front of him. However, he offered no detailed explanation as to why he needed this, just that it was essential to see what the philosopher's ''mug'' looked like. I would like to proceed in this presentation in the same way, however, a difficulty immediately arises:

which photograph of Witkacy adequately represents his mug? He photographed and painted hundreds of self-portraits, illustrating himself as a buffoon, drug addict, priest, doctor, and a madman. There is a famous photograph, taken in Russia, presenting Witkacy in his officer's uniform of the Pavlovsky Regiment, seated in front of two mirrors. The mirrors present multiple (four) Witkacys from different angles.

Witkacy: poses, 1923-31. Photographs

One critic argues that these four reflections reveal Witkacy as a painter, philosopher, writer, and photographer; however, interestingly we do not have access to the real Witkiewicz, who is seated with his back to us. I believe this photograph best captures Witkacy's multi- talented personality, and also, represents his constant quest to establish a stable identity.

All of these manifestations of Witkacy represented in the photograph, including his life must be viewed as inextricably linked. In fact, "familiarity with the personality of Witkiewicz. . . is the indispensable condition for fully understanding the most profound sense of his philosophical work;"  for his life and his work proceeded along parallel lines. In all of his endeavors Witkacy sought answers tc the most fundamental philosophical questions regarding the Mystery of Existence:

"Why am I exactly this and not that being? at this point of unlimited space and in this moment of infinite time? in this group of beings, on this planet? Why do I exist if I could have been without existence?"

According to Witkacy, this Mystery can never be solved, but it can be experienced. In his theory of art, he claimed that through the experience of true art (primarily painting, drama, music) an individual intensifies his or her feelings of individuality and affirms his/her own uniqueness in the face of an alien universe. As a result, the individual restores temporarily what Witkacy calls Metaphysical Feeling of the Strangeness of Existence, which simultaneously creates a childlike sense of wonder and anxiety.

Witkacy attempted to restore this metaphysical feeling, this sense of wonder about life, by creating a world of play, fantasy, and grotesque ghoulishness: a fantastic world of childlike wonder and apocalyptic horror, where the divisions between the dream world and reality cease to exist. This world was not only created in his artistic endeavors but also in his interactions with others. In these encounters Witkacy often resorted to tricks, jokes, and conscious manipulation to reveal the unknown lurking in the depths of the human psyche. The only fate worse than death for the artist was the lack of originality. For him the world was born anew every day in a different unexpected form.

With this in mind, Witkacy engaged on occasion in unusual behaviors. During a conversation, for instance, he would suddenly turn his back on his companion. A moment later he would face him again, now however, peering at his companion through holes cut out in the centers of bisected ping-pong balls otherwise covering his eyes. Or, in the middle of a conversation, he would adopt the role of a drunken tsarist officer or imitate a close friend. He had a special gift for impersonating his friends' voices and mannerisms.

Another of his gambits was to crouch down as low as possible when opening the door to greet a guest and then slowly to draw himself up just to see the surprise on the face of the person on the other side. On one occasion he ordered a veal cutlet, then put it into his wallet -- much to the disgust of the waiter.

He kept a formal list of his friends in order of importance. His best friend would be in the first position and so on. In the event that a "friend" somehow irritated him or, perhaps, pleased him in some way he would be demoted or promoted on the list as the case may be. Witkacy then would send a formal letter to the person indicating his new position. Occasionally he would publish the list in the local newspaper.

Perhaps his favorite activity was to devise strange scenes of unusual events. He manipulated his guests (sometimes rather cruelly) to perform bizarre roles creating unique and sometimes tense situations. Sometimes he would move around during a party explaining to selected guests the role to be played and convincing others to act different roles. Or he would establish the roles to be played by his group of friends before hand and take them to the party to create a unique event. Once the famous Polish poet Aleksander Wat was cast in the role of an Italian or Spanish aristocrat. Wat performed his role excellently and took it so much to heart that eventually, having consumed a considerable quantity of alcohol, he came to believe in his aristocratic descent. The night ended with a terrible melee in a local restaurant where Wat ran amok and from which he had to be forcibly removed. Witkacy could not contain his delight. The game had been a success!