For many Polish artists working in France, the experience of the First World War proved to be a turning point, leading to a re-examination of existing formal approaches and a reconsideration of the role of art. Although the peak of Cubism-inspired exploration within this circle occurred in the period following the Great War and was linked not only to stylistic changes but also to strategies of identity, interest in the experiments of Picasso (1881–1973) and Georges Braque (1882–1963) with the geometrisation of forms had already emerged at the beginning of the second decade of the 20th century, merely a few years after the creation of Picasso’s *Les Demoiselles d’Avignon* in 1907, regarded as one of the key paintings in the history of modernism. What attracted Polish artists to Cubism was undoubtedly not only the reduction of forms to geometric arrangements, but also the rejection of the principles of Euclidean perspective and a shift towards formal solutions inspired by non-European ethnic art, particularly from Africa and Oceania.

The heroic era of Cubism

Among the early Polish enthusiasts of Cubism was the Warsaw-born caricaturist, painter and printmaker Louis Marcoussis (born Ludwik Markus) (1878–1941), who was associated with the circle of artists centred around the Puteaux School – one of the first avant-garde circles interested in the geometrisation of form, active from 1911. It was precisely this circle, which also included Marcel Duchamp (1887–1967), Raymond Duchamp-Villon (1876–1918), Fernand Léger (1881–1955), Robert Delaunay (1885–1941), Albert Gleizes (1881–1953) and Jean Metzinger (1883–1953) were also members – and who met regularly at Jacques Villon’s home (at 7 Rue Lemaître) – is credited with playing a decisive role in popularising Cubism. The group’s significance stemmed primarily from its presence at art salons that attracted great public interest (which set it apart from Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, whose works were at that time exhibited exclusively in a private gallery run by Daniel-HenryKahnweiler (1884–1979)). In the works of artists associated with the Puteaux School, we find not only the interest in geometrism characteristic of Cubism, but also echoes of the Post-Impressionists’ fascination with Pointillism and Paul Cézanne’s approach to perspective , as is well illustrated by Marcoussis’s 1912 painting ‘Still Life with Matches’, held in the collection of the Princeton University Museum ( link to the object description on the Princeton University Museum website ).

It is worth noting that Marcoussis owed his artistic pseudonym, and later also his surname — which refers to the name of a town near Paris — to an art critic, writer and promoter of Cubism of Polish descent - Guillaume Apollinaire (1880–1918) . Presumably as a token of gratitude for his help in reshaping his image , he repaid the poet with a Cubist portrait executed in the drypoint technique, intended for use in a forthcoming edition of a poetry collection then being compiled by Apollinaire. Although, contrary to expectations, the print was not ultimately included in the volume *Alcools*, which ultimately featured a portrait of the poet by Picasso, the Polish artist’s engraving prompted Apollinaire, in 1912 on the occasion of the Section d’Or exhibition, to express an opinion published in *L’Intermédiaire des chercheurs et curieux*, that he was “the most innovative of the Cubists” . A print of the portrait, which is just one of several compositions exhibited at the salon, can today be found, amongst other places, in the collections of the National Library of France.

Artists of Polish descent at the Section d’Or exhibition

The first Cubist exhibition under the banner of the Section d’Or, organised on the initiative of Jean Metzinger and Albert Gleizes at the Galerie La Boétie at 64 bis rue La Boétie in Paris in 1912, was a significant success in terms of visitor numbers, partly thanks to the interest aroused by the earlier scandal surrounding the presentation of Cubist works at the Salon des Indépendants. The public’s interest was undoubtedly fuelled by a press campaign in which Apollinaire played a significant role, aimed both at publicising the exhibition and at changing the Cubists’ hitherto unfavourable image as a group, as well as promoting the work of individual artists.

At the exhibition, now regarded as the most important manifestation of the avant-garde scene before the Great War, , amongst over 200 works by 31 artists , the following were presented — alongside works by the aforementioned Marcoussis — compositions by two painters and graphic artists of Polish descent: Sonia Lewitska (1874–1934) and Irena Hassenberg (1884–1953).

The works exhibited by Lewitska and Hassenberg at the Section d’Or Salon are known today solely by their titles, such as, for example, ‘Carpenters’, ‘Still Life’ (Lewitska), ‘Street’ or ‘Geranium’ (Hassenberg), which makes it difficult to assess the place of their work within the artistic explorations pursued by the Cubist movement. It is likely, however, that these works did not differ significantly from the paintings by the artists presented in the same year at other exhibitions, which were described in critical reception using a variety of aesthetic categories: Lewitska’s Cubist compositions were attributed ‘poetic quality’ and the ability to assimilate French art , drawing parallels with the paintings of Celnik Rousseau (1844–1910), whilst Hassenberg’s Cubist works were described as ‘decorative’ . Given the limited source material, the presence of both artists within the Cubist circle is often interpreted primarily through the prism of their relationships with their partners – Jean Marchand (1883–1940) and Alcide Le Beau (1873–1943) – and the role attributed to these painters in enabling the women artists to operate within that circle. Undoubtedly, however, their very membership of the Section d’Or suggests that these Polish female artists may have used their identification with Cubism as a performative strategy, enabling them to move beyond the restrictive category of ‘women’s painting’ and to negotiate their positions as autonomous professional artists within avant-garde circles. In this sense, the identification they employed can be viewed as a mask, a means of gaining renown, but also a manifestation of fear of marginalisation, which, paradoxically, may have contributed to their subsequent exclusion from the canon of avant-garde art.

Polish artists represented by the Berthe Weill Gallery

A clue to interpreting the significance of the formal explorations undertaken at that time by the aforementioned Polish artists active within the Cubist milieu may be found in the interest shown in Lewitska’s work by Galerie Berthe Weill, as demonstrated, amongst other things, by the organisation of an exhibition of her works in 1913. For the record, it is worth noting that this was the gallery originally situated at 25 rue Victor-Massé, run since 1902 by the art dealer Berthe Weill (1865–1951) and regarded as the first centre in Paris dedicated to promoting contemporary art under the leadership of a woman. As early as 1909, the gallery had included Cubist paintings in its portfolio, initially focusing on representing Braque and Picasso. In the years that followed, it expanded its roster of represented artists to include several artists of Polish descent, whose artistic practice engaged with Cubism, including François Angilbout (born Helena Miączyńska) (1887–1950), Louis Marcoussis and Tadeusz Makowski (1882–1932). These painters remained within the sphere of Cubist influence for a long time, as evidenced, amongst other works, by Tadeusz’s 1929 oil painting *Fishing* in the collection of the Musée de Grenoble (l link to the description of the work on the POP platform dedicated to French heritage ).

Cubists in the face of the First World War

The outbreak of the First World War highlighted just how much the Cubists’ standing in the art market depended on the activities of institutions and galleries operating within the international art circuit. The economic crisis, the closure of galleries, the ban on trade with German art dealers, the participation of many artists in the war effort, and criticism of artistic liberalism and cosmopolitanism are just some of the factors responsible for the collapse of what had until then been a dynamically developing art market.

Polish artists in the portfolio of Léonce Rosenberg’s Galerie L’Effort Moderne

In the face of the war experience, many artists whose work engaged with Cubism decided to collaborate with the French art dealer Léonce Rosenberg (1879–1947) , who, despite accusations of promoting ‘Swabian’ art, consistently promoted Cubism in the broadest sense, even beyond the borders of the country on the Seine. Ultimately, two years after concluding the first individual contracts with artists associated with Cubism, in 1918 he opened the Galerie L’Effort Moderne at 19 rue de la Baume. The gallery’s collection soon came to include, alongside works by Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque and Fernand Léger, works by several artists of Polish descent associated with Cubism, including Henryk Hayden (1883–1970), Jean Lambert (born Lambert Rucki) (1888–1967) and Louis Marcoussis.

As Belén Atencia Conde-Pumpido observes, the experience of chaos accompanying the Great War encouraged many of the artists represented by the Rosenberg Gallery to develop a more ordered – synthetic – form of Cubism. This trend also extended to Polish artists. In their paintings, they readily depicted motifs drawn from everyday life – such as newspapers, fragments of wallpaper and their reproductions — using them to create the illusion of the material presence of objects and engaging in a dialogue with the tradition of trompe l’œil painting, which dates back to antiquity. At the same time, illusionism became a tool for reflecting on the image, capable of both creating the effect of simulating reality and revealing the conventions governing its representation . An example of such a pictorial composition is ‘Still Life on a Green Background’ (1920) by Henryk Hayden – who, due to the refined colour palette of his works, was sometimes referred to as the ‘Renoir of Cubism’ ( link to the description of the painting on the Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao website ).

Reactions to post-war criticism

At the turn of the second and third decades of the 20th century, artists previously associated with Cubism increasingly abandoned this style, regarding its formal rigours as an obstacle to further formal exploration. Influenced by art critics’ comments published in the press and following the direction set by André Lhote (1885–1962), artists increasingly turned to classical forms and models drawn from the art of the Old Masters. Although Rosenberg staunchly defended in his statements the thesis of the movement’s enduring vitality, he overlooked the transformations taking place in the art of his gallery’s collaborators, including the aforementioned Hayden . Meanwhile, even in the landscapes of Cassis by the Polish-Jewish artist from the early 1920s, one can discern an increasingly clear drawing on naturalistic conventions.

Another formal approach that emerged from the Cubist experiments within the circle of artists associated with the Galerie L’Effort Moderne was the decorative movement . One of the representatives of this trend was, amongst others, the Polish-Hungarian painter and sculptor Jean Lambert. Like other Hungarian artists associated with the gallery, he combined Cubist geometrisation with the art of the Orient, as well as the traditions of various non-European cultures. He sought in them exoticism, Otherness and the aura surrounding sacred objects. The impetus for this exploration came from Lambert’s stay in Thessaloniki, during which – whilst serving in the Foreign Legion – he carried out conservation work on behalf of the Greek Archaeological Service, including the restoration of tesserae in the Church of St George. One of the outcomes of this expedition was the 1931 painting ‘Siesta’, created in collaboration with Jean Dunand (1877–1942) using the mosaic technique, which is now held in a private collection abroad ( link to the description of the work on Sotheby’s website ).

The revival of the Section d’Or

Although the group of artists identifying with Cubism gradually dwindled during the interwar period, partly in favour of the explorations developed within the ‘return to order’, decorative art or Purism, two attempts were made to revive the Section d’Or group.

Bearing in mind the success of the 1912 venture, Alexander Archipenko, Léopold Survage and Albert Gleizes organised a touring exhibition of the Section d’Or between 1920 and 1922. The exhibitions took place in turn in: Paris (5–20 March 1920: Galerie La Boétie at 6 rue La Boétie), Rotterdam (20 June–4 July 1920: Rotterdamsche Kunstkring, at 35 Witte de Withstraat), The Hague (11 July–1 August 1920: Haagsche Kunstkring), Arnhem (September 1920: Vereeniging Artibus Sacrum, at 42 Korenmarkt), Amsterdam (23 October–7 November 1920: Stedelijk Museum on Paulus Potterstraat), Brussels (4–17 December 1920: Galerie Sélection, 62 rue des Colonies), Geneva (26 December 1920–25 January 1921: an exhibition presented as part of the Exposition internationale d’art moderne at the Palais électoral, 24 Rue du Général-Dufour) and Rome (17 April–2 May 1922: Galleria d’Arte Italiana, Via Vittorio Veneto 6).

The exhibitions featured not only works by artists associated with Cubism before the First World War – the group of exhibitors was also expanded to include post-war artists linked to the movement. Among the Cubists of Polish origin, alongside Louis Marcoussis , whose works featured in all the exhibitions, there were also works by Jean Lambert ( all exhibitions), François Angiboult ( with the exception of the Rome exhibition) and Henryk Hayden ( in the Brussels and Geneva exhibitions).

Despite the lack of a significant public response during this edition of the Section d’Or exhibitions, in 1925 another exhibition was organised under the group’s banner – this time at the Galerie Vavin-Raspail at 28 Rue Vavin. An attempt to recreate the 1912 exhibition, featuring works by the most recognisable pre-war Cubists – including, for example , Marcoussis – and enriched with works by Picasso, Braque and Robert Delaunay, ended in failure. The exhibition failed to arouse any enthusiasm.

Among the reasons for the failure of these attempts to revive the Section d’Or were the historically fraught connotations of the group’s name, which referred to a pre-war phase in the development of the avant-garde , as well as the discrepancy between the declared association with Cubism and the nature of the works on display, representing the latest output of artists who were increasingly turning to other formal languages. This phenomenon is well illustrated by an untitled work by François Angiboult from the collection of the Centre Pompidou in Paris, dating from this period (link to the object’s description on the Centre Pompidou website ).

In conclusion

Although in the years that followed a group of artists drawing on Cubism could still be seen on the art market, their works enjoyed less market demand. It is telling that whilst pre-war Cubist works attained the status of collector’s items and became the subject of speculation on the art market, contemporary references to this movement were regarded as derivative, regardless of their artistic quality .