Adolf Sternschuss’s ex libris as a manifestation of the search for national art

Abstract

The topic of this article is the ex libris made in 1904 for Adolf Sternschuss, an art connoisseur and collector of Jewish origins. This bookplate, a well-studied specimen of Young Poland art made by Antoni Procajłowicz, has not been a subject of deep analysis yet. The author underlines  the connection between the ex libris and the movement to revive the craft of printing and to find a new art style based on Polish values. She also discusses a series of exhibitions and publications that contributed to the development of this process. The direct inspiration for the bookplate was folk papercutting, whose origins can be found in the activities of the association Polish Applied Arts [Polska Sztuka Stosowana], in particular of Jerzy Warchałowski, its fi rst amateur and researcher. Polish papercutting, especially rich in form and distinct from papercutting present in other countries, had a particular national character. On the other hand, the motif of the ex libris - birds sitting on the sides of a crowned plate - might have its origins in coat-of-arms bookplate art and in Jewish art (albeit not necessarily papercutting). Th e author has argued that
this motif of birds guarding a stone plate was adapted by Polish art, for example architecture.