Witkiewicz-Father and Son: The Double Portrait

Abstract

In this essay, I describe the relationship between Stanisław Witkiewicz and his son, Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (Witkacy) as a relationship between two artists in the broadest sense of the word. That is both were painters, writers, and thinkers. Initially, I perceived the Witkiewicz’s as ‘challengers’ in the realm of culture issues. I ultimately turn my attention to stress the similarities between both Witkiewicz’s rather than the differences because the two artists shared a common view on many ideas, e.g. the crisis of culture, the death of the Polish Universum, the ideal of a high and pure art, authenticity in personal life as well as in the field of art. Their artistic works reflect different stages of Modernism, but at the same time they show how complex Modernism was. This comparative work shows Modernism as a ‘space’ for the formation of Polish culture identity.