It is August 1971. Tadeusz Brzozowski comes to the estate on Lake Tahoe, at the invitation of Jan Kunczyński, a Polish entrepreneur living in the USA. This is the beginning of one of the most interesting post-war residencies that a Polish artist had the opportunity to undergo during the Polish People’s Republic. “Tadzio”, as the hosts call Brzozowski, is given one task – to create a group of unique works that will allow him to strengthen his position on the demanding American art scene. However, the collection never leaves the Kunczyński house and remains hidden from the eyes of curious art lovers for years. For over 50 years, the history of Brzozowski’s extraordinary collection of works has grown to the rank of the Holy Grail, the trace of which has only been recorded in subsequent monographs on the artist’s work. According to Jan Kunczyński’s will, in 2024 the objects will be auctioned in Poland, where they will be available to a wider audience for the first time. The exhibition, which runs from November 6 to 21, is not only an important market event, but above all an opportunity to take part in an art history lesson and come face to face with never-before-seen works of the post-war avant-garde.
Jan Kunczyński – a visionary from Podhale
Behind every extraordinary collection there is a unique collector. This is also the case with the works of representatives of the Polish avant-garde gathered by Jan Kunczyński. The athlete, entrepreneur and visionary created one of the most interesting sets of works we have seen in recent years. Jan Kunczyński came from Lublin, but spent a large part of his life in Zakopane, where he not only practiced competitive skiing, but also got involved in social life and co-created the post-war bohemia of Podhale. His story gained momentum in the 1960s with his emigration to France, where he met his future wife, Lilly. Their passion for skiing meant that the daughter of an American millionaire soon helped Jan set up her business – Lift Engieenring. The company built ski lifts and was successful in the US, including building cable cars in Whistler and Lake Tahoe. Kunczyński eagerly employed highlanders and cooperated with the Polish community, and when he accumulated appropriate wealth, he also proposed solutions that were to push Zakopane towards a world resort. As Adam Bachleda-Curuś recalls:
– He has always been a big figure in Zakopane. (…) He remained associated with mountains and skiing throughout his life. He absolutely monopolized the American market, he was the best. And people appreciated it. He was undoubtedly an outstanding, but little-known figure in Poland, a Zakopanean.
Despite his engineering education, Kunczyński felt primarily a designer and inventor – he cared about the appearance and innovation of his products, and apart from mountains, he had another great passion – he loved art.
The American dream – from the snow-capped peaks of the Tatra Mountains to the lake of dreams
One of the Poles who came to his estate on Lake Tahoe was the artist Tadeusz Brzozowski. In 1971, during a several-month stay in America, at Jan’s suggestion, away from social life, he was to create canvases and works on paper, with the intention of exhibiting them in one of the galleries on the west coast of the United States. The creative process was facilitated by an unusual view from the studio: crystal clear, turquoise water and a panorama of the Sierra Nevada mountains stretching in the distance were supposed to inspire Mark Twain himself already in the 19th century, and Brzozowski recalled: “I have never felt the light more intensely (..) as in the 19th century. United States.” A few months after their arrival, a coherent body of work was completed, but the exhibition did not take place. Jan Kunczyński and his wife Lily, driven by strong emotions aroused in them by Brzozowski’s paintings, decided to buy all the works and leave them in their home. The artist had no objections, and the objects joined the hosts’ collection, which includes works by representatives of the Polish post-war avant-garde. Since then, for over 50 years, the story of this extraordinary collection has circulated only among collectors, and over time it has grown to become the Holy Grail.
An outsider from Zakopane and his intellectual puzzles
Brzozowski, although his name did not become widely known, was one of the most liked and extremely respected artists in the community, whose works are today recognized by collectors alongside Magdalena Abakanowicz, Roman Opałka and Tadeusz Kantor. In addition to his outstanding talent and above-average intelligence, he also became famous as a “cat that goes its own way”. When asked by Lily Kunczyński, who was learning Polish, why the titles of his works (such as “Fleja” and “Flejtuch”, “Glajzleraj”, “Mitręga kpa”, and “Rajfura stęka”) contain words she had never heard, he had reply: “heca”! Brzozowski never took his work entirely seriously, as evidenced by the sign saying “TO HERE” which he supposedly hung above the entrance to his studio at ul. Floriańska Kraków. The artist defied all categories, and preferred a quiet life among his loved ones in Zakopane to the glitter of galleries and the formal requirements they imposed. As Barbara Gawdzik-Brzozowska, artist and Brzozowski’s wife, recalled in 1999: “He was proud of the fact that he worked like a clerk, every day from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Then lunch, a nap, a walk or social gatherings… (…) He painted diligently, but “He could never force himself to deliver work systematically and on time.” He also avoided publicity. When he was to receive a state distinction, he “would climb into bed and pretend to be terribly ill.” The period he spent on Lake Tahoe was the most fertile months in which he created some of the most valuable works in the history of his work. The strength of Brzozowski’s works are the meanings encoded in them. The artist wanted his works to be read like books. The starting point are funny titles, inviting the recipient to solve an intellectual puzzle.
A sought-after collection – not only Brzozowski
However, the collection presented at DESA Unicum includes not only Brzozowski’s works, but also other works of the Polish avant-garde. Three years after Tadeusz Brzozowski’s visit, Barbara Gawdzik-Brzozowska, who had previously been unable to accompany Tadeusz due to illness, also comes to the Kunczyński house. During his several-week stay, he enriches their collection with a set of drawings on paper. In addition to the works made by the Brzozowskis, the collection also included other objects by Polish artists. Most of them came to Jan Kunczyński thanks to his sister, Anna Kunczyńska-Iracka. It was Anna, as an experienced art historian, who took care of the transportation of the objects across the ocean. In this way, the Kunczyński family received two paintings entitled “Night” by Jerzy Tchórzewski, as well as one of the top “Landscapes” by Rajmund Ziemski. Anna Kunczyńska-Iracka was a specialist in folk art, which is why the Kunczyński collection included a significant number of objects made by Cepelia artists. In addition to the canvases, works related to the culture of Podhale deserve special attention, including the weaving works of Marta Gąsienica-Szostak and the watercolors of Józefa Wnukowa. All works can be seen live until November 21 at DESA Unicum at ul. Piękna 1A in Warsaw.
Exhibition coordinators: Wiktor Komorowski, Anna Rożniecka
Wystawa „Lily & Jan Kunczynski Collection. Lake Tahoe, Nevada”: 6-21.11.2024
