Review of the monograph  Hanna Brzuszkiewicz. Material and Breath

This monograph is the first such extensive research-based study dedicated to Prof. Hanna Brzuszkiewicz – a recognized artist and sculpture tutor at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń since 1958, actively participating in the Polish as well as international exhibition movement to this day – at the same time it remains a kind of art book. The publication, prepared by Ph.D. Dorota Grubba-Thiede in collaboration with its co-editor Anna Kropolewska-Gajewska and Prof. Hanna Brzuszkiewicz herself, impresses with the breadth of the Artist's original achievements. The sculptures and drawings meticulously collected by Dorota Grubba-Thiede and Anna Kroplewska-Gajewska in the course of their curatorial work, were interpreted in the introductory essay: Professor Hanna Brzuszkiewicz – Material and Breath by Grubba-Thiede, and in Anna Kroplewska-Gajewska’s text, entitled The kind of sculpture one remembers…; they were also thoroughly documented in the Calendar of Life and Artistic Work with photographs by Janina Gardzielewska and Władysław Szulc. In order to broaden the interpretation of the Artist's work, the editors invited the University of Gdańsk Prof., Ph.D. Magdalena Howorus-Czajka who wrote the essay entitled Rend – Fracture – Pause. Towards the artwork of Hanna Brzuszkiewicz. The structure of said publication and its aesthetic value are strengthened by the exceptional contemporary photographs by Krzysztof Deczyński, which emphasize the values of Hanna Brzuszkiewicz's sculptures, and were created exclusively for the monograph – to accompany the historically recognized photographs by Andrzej Skowroński. The cover features Hanna Brzuszkiewicz’s mysterious sculpture Portrait of Mrs. Z (1965), from the collection of the National Museum in Wrocław, in a meditative photographic interpretation by Czesław Kuchta [an artist from the Zero-61 Group]. The monograph, along with its  extremely important share of impressive archival materials [neatly and clearly presented in the book’s design by Miłosz Thiede] inspires a sense of respect also through confrontation with its rich bibliography selection – encompassing numerous catalogues of exhibitions – not only national, but also international – in which the Artist has successfully participated since the 1950s, to mention the silver medal she received in Prague in 1962, as part of the Polish team at the International Exhibition of Contemporary Ceramics. The Hanna Brzuszkiewicz. Material and Breath monograph, pioneering with its  visual form as well as informative substance, brings to light the achievements of Prof. Hanna Brzuszkiewicz, an outstanding artist who continues to create and exhibit, and a lecturer who taught sculpture at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń from 1958 to the beginning of the 21st century. The monograph, produced with the use of proper research methods – preceded by numerous queries (at archives and libraries, including the Graphic Collection Section of the Nicolaus Copernicus University Library in Toruń, at several institutes, and with the help of the Artist’s materials) and in cooperation with numerous cultural institutions – remains a compendium of knowledge, concerning not only Prof. Hanna Brzuszkiewicz, but also transformations in contemporary art, that will undoubtedly affect future generations of recipients. 

Prof. dr hab. Jerzy Malinowski 
President of the Polish Institute of World Art Studies in Warsaw

Academic monograph: dr Dorota Grubba-Thiede, Hanna Brzuszkiewicz Material and Breath

English translation: dra Katarzyna Podpora

Introductions: prof. Jerzy Malinowski, Anna Kroplewska-Gajewska, prof. UG Magdalena Howorus-Czajka

Academic editing: Dorota Grubba-Thiede, Anna Kroplewska-Gajewska

Editing: dr Mariusz Wrona

Proofreading: Katarzyna Podpora, Anna Kroplewska-Gajewska, Miłosz Thiede

Graphic design: Miłosz Thiede

Cover: Hanna Brzuszkiewicz, Portrait of Mrs. Z (glazed ceramics), 1966, National Museum in Wroclaw, photo: Czesław Kuchta

Cooperation with the Ministry of Science and Higher Education: Marta Chełmińska, Łukasz Dobrowolski (and in 2024 also: Joanna Słupecka, Agnieszka Nawrot)

Publishers: Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk, District Museum in Toruń

Project co-financed from the state budget, the subsidy granted by the Polish Minister of Science and Higher Education, within the "Doskonała Nauka II” programme.

Polish version of the monograph accompanied the exhibition: Hanna Brzuszkiewicz. Tworzywo i Tchnienie [Material and Breath] 28.01 – 28.05.2023 at the District Museum in Toruń. The exhibition was curated by dr Dorota Grubba-Thiede (Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk), Anna Kroplewska-Gajewska (District Museum in Toruń) in collaboration with Patrycja Mondraszewska, Lena Rydelska, Blanka Tokarska (Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń).

ISBN: 978-83-67720-43-4 Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk
ISBN: 978-83-66208-47-6 District Museum in Toruń

Toruń 2025