Waldemar Swierzy [1931-2013] poster design for the film "ŚMIERĆ JAK KROMKA CHLEBA", Poland 1994, Martial Law

The picture is made with paints on cardboard. The central part of the composition is occupied by an expressively framed face of a man wearing a miner's helmet, depicted in intense, deep blue-violet tones. The figure has an open mouth and is screaming, which gives the representation a strong dramatic expression.
The surface shows irregular red spots resembling drops of blood, contrasting with the portrait's cool colors. The background is kept in light tones, filled with inscriptions in red and black, containing the title and information about the filmmakers.
The whole work is maintained in Swierzy's characteristic style - with a clear, painterly texture and a synthetic, abbreviated approach to form. On the reverse in red ink written dimensions of the original poster - 85 x 59

Paper, paint
Dimensions : 40 cm x 28 cm
Condition as on pictures
Artwork by Waldemar Swierzy, grandmaster of poster design, co-founder of the Polish poster school. The project was created for Kazimierz Kutz's film "Death like a slice of bread", referring to the tragic events related to the pacification of the strike in the "Wujek" mine in 1981. The artist does not literally recreate historical scenes - instead, he builds a strong symbolic image of suffering and opposition, using deformation, color contrast and facial expression.
These types of posters did not merely serve an informative function, but were autonomous works of art, often collected and displayed in galleries. Pieces of this kind are part of the most important current of post-war graphic design in Poland, being a testimony to both the high artistic level and the deep commitment of their creators to social and historical themes.
Waldemar Swierzy (1931-2013) - an outstanding Polish graphic designer, painter and educator, considered one of the main co-creators and most prominent representatives of the Polish poster school. Born in Katowice, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow under, among others, outstanding professors associated with the post-war avant-garde.
As early as the 1950s, he was associated with the design of film, theater and music posters, creating hundreds of realizations that won international recognition. His work was distinguished by his painterly approach to posters - instead of purely graphic synthesis, he used expressive color stain, painterly gesture and strongly individualized drawing. A special place in his oeuvre is occupied by jazz posters and portraits of musicians characterized by a strong emotional charge.
Swierzy was a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, where he educated numerous generations of graphic designers. His works have won numerous awards at prestigious international poster biennials, including those in Warsaw, Brno, Lahti and Mexico. The artist's works can be found in the collections of major museum institutions and private collections around the world.
Swierzy's work is one of the key links in the development of European graphic design of the 20th century, combining artistic qualities with a communicative function and giving the poster the rank of an autonomous work of art.