Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, a.k.a. Witkacy, was one of the most colorful figures on the Polish cultural scene in the early twentieth century, as well as being a major artistic personality among the European avant-garde of the interwar period (1918–39). His personal life, paintings, drawings, theatrical plays, novels, and theoretical ideas made him famous among his contemporaries (though mostly through critical opinions) and influential among the cultural elites of subsequent generations. True recognition of his work came posthumously, first in Poland after the 1956 liberalization and the rising critical interest in his idea of artistic “pure form”, and then in other countries in the 1970s. By now his works have been translated into several languages and his plays performed on…

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Citation: Karwowska, Bozena. "Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 03 November 2010 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12283, accessed 19 March 2024.]

12283 Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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