A brief success story of the ‘prodigal daughter’ from a landed family

There was nothing to suggest that Maja Berezowska – or, to give her full name, Maria Berezowska – who was born in the early 1890s in Baranovichi ( now in Belarus) to a landowning family of a Polish engineer – would , in her work, focus on the ironic reinterpretation of patriarchal visual codes and eroticism. In her youth, like other ‘young ladies from good families’ – to use the term coined by art historian Katarzyna Nowakowska-Sito – Berezowska received a thorough artistic education . She studied under the modernist Nikolai Roerich ( 1874–1947) in St Petersburg, at the Maria Niedzielska School of Fine Arts for Women in Kraków, and subsequently in Erwin Knirr’s (1894–1973) studio in Munich.

After Poland regained its independence in 1918, Berezowska , perhaps inspired by the aesthetic of the magazine *Simplicissimus*, made her debut as a satirical cartoonist in the Lviv-based *Szczutka* in Lviv. She soon began a relationship with the illustrator and caricaturist Kazimierz Grus ( 1886–1953), which was formalised in 1920. Thanks to her husband’s support and her connections within the artistic community , she published regularly in titles such as *Cyrulik Warszawski* and *Szopka*. Her caricatures and satirical drawings from the 1920s, commenting, amongst other things, on the dispute over Silesia’s affiliation with Poland, brought her national recognition , but she only gained true fame thanks to a series of illustrations for *The Decameron* , published in 1930 in Warsaw as part of the *Biblioteka Arcydzieł Literatury* series. These uninhibited illustrations, depicting slender figures with delicately outlined contours—though stylised in the manner of woodcuts and reminiscent of the Art Deco aesthetic — were a precursor to her mature style, in which dynamism and lightness of form played a key role. These illustrations revealed Berezowska’s characteristic penchant for themes of joie de vivre, sensuality and love – themes that came to dominate her later work.

By presenting this collection to the French publisher and journalist Lucien Vogel ( 1886–1953) shortly after the artist’s arrival in Paris in 1932, she began collaborating with magazines such as *Vogue*, *La Vie Parisienne*, *Le Figaro* and *Ici Paris*.

‘Portrait of Louise Hervieu’ in the Centre Pompidou collection

Although during her time on the Seine (1932–1936/1937) Berezowska focused mainly on press illustration , she did not entirely abandon portrait work . In Paris, she eagerly captured the likenesses of members of the local artistic community, including Louise Hervieu ( 1878–1954) – a writer, painter and printmaker – whose subtle, psychological portrait, executed in pencil, watercolour and gouache before 1936, is now held in the Centre Pompidou’s collection. Presented in 1937 at the exhibition ‘Les femmes artistes d’Europe’ ( Women Artists of Europe) at the Jeu de Paume, the painting was subsequently acquired by a public collection. Despite the recognition Berezowska gained on the French art market during the interwar period—as evidenced by the aforementioned watercolour—the artist’s work from that time has yet to receive the scholarly attention it deserves.

‘The Love Affairs of Sweet Adolf’ at Malmö Konstmuseum/Malmö Art Museum

No other work than the 1935 issue of the magazine *Ici Paris*, containing 11 illustrations for the article *‘Hitler intime et les amours du susse Adolf’* (‘The Love Affairs of Sweet Adolf’) by Jean-Pierre Mezerette— a copy of which is held, amongst other places, in the collection of the Malmö Konstmuseum / Malmö Art Museum, better captures Berezowska’s complex position as an artist active in France during the 1930s. In these memorable, sensual compositions, created in 1934—presumably executed in watercolour and pen, and subsequently reproduced using the lithography technique—the artist depicted the leader of the Third Reich, Adolf Hitler, in the throes of passion , in flagrante delicto. In his quest to achieve a high print run, the publisher failed to foresee the possible consequences of the scandal surrounding the publication. Mezerette’s text suggested, amongst other things, Hitler’s Jewish origins, and mocked his shortcomings and artistic ambitions. In the process, it revealed the secrets of salacious (and not necessarily true) stories from Hitler’s biography.

Berezowska depicted the politician in a satirical manner, both as a Jew and as an inept lover . The publication of this issue sparked a scandal over public morals , culminating in a libel case brought by the German embassy against the publisher and Berezowska for defaming the leader of the Third Reich. Interestingly, for unknown reasons, the charges did not extend to Merette. The trial, which was closely followed by French intellectual circles, became a pretext for a debate on censorship and the limits of art . Although the case was officially settled with a symbolic fine following an appeal by the artist’s defence counsel – the lawyer and politician Albert Sarraut ( 1872–1962) – Berezowska’s offence was not forgiven. Following the scandal surrounding the publication, in 1936/1937 the artist returned to Poland, where she settled in Warsaw .

Portrait of female prisoners from Ravensbrück, from the Malmö Konstmuseum/Malmö Art Museum

In 1939, fearing the consequences of her recent conviction, Berezowska left Warsaw and began living in hiding on country estates belonging to her friends. In 1942, however, she returned to the Polish capital , where, following an anonymous tip-off, she was arrested by the Gestapo and taken to Pawlak Prison. From there, following the pronouncement of an official death sentence against her for insulting Hitler, she was transferred to the Ravensbrück women’s concentration camp, located several dozen kilometres from Berlin .

A watercolour housed at the Malmö Konstmuseum/Malmö Art Museum, dated 8 November 1942, depicting two idealised images of female prisoners, described as ‘les deux amis’ (two friends), serves as a testament to this period , during which Berezowska, bearing camp number 11197, despite the difficult living conditions, in her spare time from forced labour (in the camp, she carried out projects for, amongst others, a toy manufacturer and a sewing workshop), produced drawings with her fellow female prisoners in mind. She was one of the few female artists amongst the 130,000 female prisoners who, like Maria Hiszpańska-Neumann ( 1917–1980, a painter) and Zofia Pociłowska ( 1920–2019, a sculptor and portraitist), created works of art in secret whilst there. Her drawings, however , mostly deviated from the realistic style of other artists documenting camp life. In creating her works, Berezowska often embellished the portraits of female prisoners so that they might find a moment’s respite from the conditions prevailing in the camp, and even share the sketches with their families. The artist owed her survival to the support of many of them. Following the liberation of the camp in April 1945, which was brought about through negotiations by Folke Bernadotte (1895–1945, a Swedish politician), Vice-President of the Swedish Red Cross, with Heinrich Himmler, Berezowska spent her convalescence in Sweden .

Erotic Art in the Collection of the Polish Museum of America in Chicago

In 1946, Berezowska returned to Poland , where she continued her artistic work, which resonated with an aesthetic now described as ‘camp’ — one that did not shy away from indecent passion, fairy-tale-like qualities or exaggeration, and which focused on form rather than content. These works, which on the face of it did not conform to the moral standards of the People’s Republic of Poland and in which she depicted sexuality, including that of women, enjoyed great popularity amongst readers of publications such as *Szpilki*, *Nowa Kultura* and *Przekrój*, right up until 1968, when, following the dismissal of editor Arnold Mostowicz (1914–2002) in the wake of an anti-Semitic smear campaign, the artist ceased publishing in the press. One such sensual composition, executed in watercolour, depicting a nude woman in the presence of three young men—reminiscent of cupids—who accompany her whilst she is dressing, has found its way into the collection of the Polish Museum in America . The presence of this work in an American collection highlights the recognition the artist enjoys today within the Polish diaspora abroad – the work was donated to the collection in 2019.

Further reading:

M. Czyńska, Berezowska. Nudity for All, Wołowiec 2018.

K. Nowakowska-Sito, Maja Berezowska – a sketch for a portrait, *Wiadomości ziemiańskie* no. 55, 2013, 25–29.

J. Soboń, Maja Berezowska as a Book Illustrator, ‘Acta Universitatis Lodziensis. Folia Libororum’ no. 11, 87–114.