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A Polish reader tells us about Wlastimil Hofman (1881-1970). He is an example of the ethnic mix of the Austro-Hungarian Empire before World War I. And one of the more popular painters in Poland of the interwar and postwar years. A Polish contributor writes, "I am sending a picture painted around 1920. Maybe it will be interesting for you. The painter's name was Wlastimil Hofman. He was born in Prague in 1881, his first name was Czech, and his surname was German. When he was 8, his parents moved to Kraków. He became a Pole by choice. This painting is called 'Christmas Carolers'. Christmas carol is a folk custom that used to be very common in Poland. Even now, it is sometimes found in the countryside. In the post-Christmas period, groups of people went from house to house and wished the residents all the best. Sometimes they were dressed in special costumes and often sang songs. In return, they received gifts - food, sometimes money. The children in the picture have some scarves on their heads to protect their ears. This suggests that there is severe frost. Younger children don't have shoes, just rags stuffed with straw. The boy with the musical instrument is wearing short pants, no socks. Also, the little girl has no stockings and has bare legs. All clothes are old and torn. Nobody has gloves. This picture is quite strange. In Poland, no one walked with bare knees in winter - I have not heard of it. The climate was too harsh. (I omit the very old times when completely naked and barefoot children were seen sliding on the ice on frozen ponds - Father Kitowicz wrote about it. But it was in the 18th century) Judging from the realistic details, the painter did not come up with it. Perhaps in the post-World War I period such things happened. Maybe these children lost their father in the war." Hoffman was still active when the NAZIs struck and left an indelible story and artistic record as he escaped the NAZI and Soviet grasp, both of which were intent on destroying the Polish intelligencia --including artists.
Vlastimil was born Hofmann in Prague to Ferdinand Hofmann, a Czech, and Teofila Muzyk Terlecka, a Pole (1881). We are not sure what language was spolen in the home. This was an example of the ethnic mix of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, especially in the cities before World War I. The family appears to have been prosperous, but have not details on the father's occupation or businness activities.
The Hofman family Kraków (1889). We are not sure why. This was a Polish city, but still part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the time. He was still a young boy. And because most of his frirnds and school mates were Polish, he became to think of himself as a Pole.
Vlastimil attended St Barbara's School and then the Jan III Sobieski high school. He then studied at at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków (1896). His major art instructor was Jacek Malczewski.
Hofman went to Paris to study painting at École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. We are not sure why he chose Paris. It was of course a world artistic center, but we suspect it also gave him the freedom to pursue Polish nationalist themes that would not have been appreciated in Austrian imperial schools.
After completing his studies in Poland, Hofman returned to Kraków. His first showing was at an exhibition sponsored by the Sztuka Society (1902). Sztuka means art in Polish. It was a group of Polish artists at the turn-of-the 20th century (fin-de-siècle era) active in the areas with Polish ethnic populations within the Austrian, German, and Russian Empires. It was an artistic society with political overtones. They wanted to showcase the importance and unique character of Polish contemporary art even though the Polish state did not exist. [Cavanaugh] He then exhibited un the cosmoisipolitan world of pre-World War I fin-de-siècle era. He exhibited in Munich, Amsterdam, Rome, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, and Warsaw. An important subject for him was Polish village/peasant) Madonnas. His first was painted (1904). He also began a series of paintings known as 'Confession'. It was these paintings that attracted the attention of the international art community. He was the first Polish artist to be made a member of the Gallery of the Vienna Secession (1907). Which tell you something about the prospects of Polish artists in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He maintauned ciontacts to his oild professor, Jacek Malczewski. When Malczewski became Rector of the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts (1912, Hofman began teaching there. With the outbreak of World War I (1914), Poland became a battleground. Hofman moved to Prague and then Paris.
Hofman was in Paris when World War I ended and Poland declared its independence. It was in Paris that he met and married his wife and life-long companion Ada (1919). It is at this time that Hofman minted rhe prtraut here (figure 1). A Polish contributor writes, "I am sending a picture painted around 1920. Maybe it will be interesting for you. The painter's name was Wlastimil Hofman. He was born in Prague in 1881, his first name was Czech, and his surname was German. When he was 8, his parents moved to Kraków. He became a Pole by choice. This painting is called 'Christmas Carolers'. Christmas carol is a folk custom that used to be very common in Poland. Even now, it is sometimes found in the countryside. In the post-Christmas period, groups of people went from house to house and wished the residents all the best. Sometimes they were dressed in special costumes and often sang songs. In return, they received gifts - food, sometimes money. The children in the picture have some scarves on their heads to protect their ears. This suggests that there is severe frost. Younger children don't have shoes, just rags stuffed with straw. The boy with the musical instrument is wearing short pants, no socks. Also, the little girl has no stockings and has bare legs. All clothes are old and torn. Nobody has gloves. This picture is quite strange. In Poland, no one walked with bare knees in winter - I have not heard of it. The climate was too harsh. (I omit the very old times when completely naked and barefoot children were seen sliding on the ice on frozen ponds - Father Kitowicz wrote about it. But it was in the 18th century) Judging from the realistic details, the painter did not come up with it. Perhaps in the post-World War I period such things happened. Maybe these children lost their father in the war." They returned to Kraków (1921). They lived in a villa on Spadzista Street which after his death was renamed Hofman. Malczewski convinced him to change the spelling of his name from Czech to a Polonised Wlastimil. Malczewski died in 1929. This became the most productive period of his artistic career. He could paint without any fear of censorship. Both his Polish nationalism and Catholicism are on display. He also liked to paint children and they constitute a substantial portion of his prolific body of work. It is at this time that he painted one of his popular works, 'Christmas Carolers' (1920). He pointed to countless works during the inter-war era with a mixture of peasants of all ages and religious imagery--all the rick bed of Polish nationalism. Many of these works featured children. Hofman's paintings were displayed prominently in the art competition at the 1928 Summer Olympics held in Amsterdam.
Most Poles as World War II approached had an awareness of the dangers of Stalin's Soviet Union. Few fully understood the dangers of the NAZIs and their pathological hatred of Poles and other Slavs. Even Polish Jews did not fully understand it. German World War I occupation was mostly correct. There was no real inkling as to what was to come. Hofman for whatever reason seems to have been more aware of the dangers than most other Poles. Most assumed that the substantial Polish Army could deal with the Germans. They could not and in 2 weeks aided by their new Blitzkrieg tactics and modern weapons had largely smashed the Polish Army (September 1939). The Soviets attacked from the East. Even before major actions against the Jews, the NAZIs began murdering the Polish , including artists--Aktion AB. The Soviets did the same in their zone of Eastern Poland. Hofman for whatever reason seems to have been more aware of the dangers than most other Poles. Kraków was near the border of NAZI-occupied Czechoslovakia and thus was quickly taken by the NAZIs. Hofman fled east from the Nazi invasion. He was aided by Czech refugees (including future President, Ludvík Svoboda) that had contacts with the Soviets. He and Ada managed to both escape the Germans and Soviet arrest. While in Pomorzany he saw the Polish soldiers being held as POWs by the Soviets. He was able to interact with them. He painted their portraits on cardboard. And attempted to send the portraits home to their families. These men were subsequently deported to camps inside the Soviet Union. This included the officers sent to Kozelsk--many of whom the NKVD would murder--the Katyn Massacre. The Soviets also began deporting civilians. He befrinded Zdzisław Peszkowski, who entrusted the regiment's money to Hofman. Hofman for his part managed to join the men of the Czechoslovak Legion and with them traveled through Ternopil, Istambul, and then British occupied Palestine and safety. He spent the remainder of the War in Palestine working with Polish groups there. After the NAZI Barbarossa invasion invasion (June 1941), a desperate Stalin momentarily changed his policies toward the Poles. The Poles he uprooted and deported to Central Asia had a short window of opportunity to escape. They had to do it largely on foot. This included the child deportees. Hofman published a book of poetry -- Through Darkness to Freedom .
Hofman must have been aware of Soviet barbarity in Poland. He spent some time in Soviet-occupied Poland. And he worked with Poles who escaped Soviet captivity after the German Barbarossa invasion (June 1941). This included both POWs and Polish civilians that had been deported to Soviet camps--including Children. Thus the return to Communist Poland after the war must have been a difficult decision. Hofman returned to Kraków (June 1946). This was during the Stalinist era. But even during this brutal period, Communist Poland was not like the horrific period of Soviet occupation (1939-41). Why Stalin changed his policies is not entirely clear. We believe the association with the British and Americans may have been a factor, but others factors were involved. But Hofman was able to return to Poland and was not arrested. His friend Jan Sztaudynger helped him and Ada moved to Szklarska Poręba in the Sudety mountains (May 1947. They moved into a house there, which they called 'Wlastimilówka'. Apparently, his reputation as a nationalist painter helped him avoid the ire of the authorities. He even produced religious paintings for the local church (1953-63). Paintings included 'Four Evangelists', 'The Way of the Rosary', 'The Way of the Cross', 'The Adoration of the Child'. But he also did paintings without any religious overtones, portraits of local people. He painted sportsmen - especially footballers. He was devoted to the Wisła Kraków team. He also did self-portraits. After the Stalinist period, this became more acceptable. The Polish Government awarded the Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1961. Hofman died (1970). He and Ada are buried in the parochial cemetery in Szklarska Poręba, next to the Corpus Christi Church, run by the Franciscan Fathers. The church is decorated with pictures and banners painted by Hofman. His painting '“Jesus Christ with the Holy Eucharist is at the main altar.
Cavanaugh, Jan. Out looking in: Early modern Polisha art, 1890–1918, (University of California Press: 2000).
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