„Polski artysta — artysta z Polski?” Problem tożsamości narodowej w badaniach nad sztuką artystów z Polski we Francji na przełomie XIX i XX wieku na przykładzie Simona Mondzaina

Abstract

“POLISH ARTIST—ARTIST FROM POLAND”. THE PROBLEM OF NATIONAL IDENTITY IN RESEARCHING THE ART BY POLISH ARTISTS IN FRANCE DURING THE TURN OF THE XIX AND XX CENTURY ON THE EXAMPLE OF SIMON MODZAIN

The feeling of national identity during the partition of Poland is very complex. While facing political oblivion identification was based mainly on the feeling of cultural and language distinctness, which was not easy to recognize in a multi-national country. The problem became even more complicated with immigrants, because of both imposed and spontaneous integration processes. Using the history of the Polish artistic community in France and the case study of painter Simon Mondzain as examples, the author analyzes the criteria that should be used by a modern art historian looking into the question of national identity. A question arises of how adequate the term of Polishness in a homogeneous country (and Poland after the war was such a country) is in defining the diversity represented by the artistic community living abroad during the XIX, and first half of the XX century.