The Brick Wall in Andrzej Wróblewski’s ”Execution against a Wall” and Jean-Paul Sartre’s ”Le Mur”: An Intertextual Relation
In 1949, Andrzej Wróblewski (1927–1957) created eight paintings entitled ”Executions”. They were an attempt to develop a new language for art, which was facing a crisis of representation after the horrors of the war. This article takes on the task of an analysis and interpretation of Wróblewski’s ”E...
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Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw
2019-01-01
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| Online Access: | https://miejsce.asp.waw.pl/en/ceglany-mur-w-rozstrzelaniu-na-scianie-andrzeja-wroblewskiego-i-le-mur-jeana-paula-sartrea-relacja-intertekstualna/ |
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| author | Magdalena Gemra |
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| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In 1949, Andrzej Wróblewski (1927–1957) created eight paintings entitled ”Executions”. They were an attempt to develop a new language for art, which was facing a crisis of representation after the horrors of the war. This article takes on the task of an analysis and interpretation of Wróblewski’s ”Execution against a Wall”, a painting that has largely been overlooked and disregarded as conventional.
In ”Execution against a Wall”, the wall limits the field of vision while forcing the viewer to engage in the performance, creating an arena or stage. I discuss the many visual sources that also depict executions set against the background of a wall. Iconic depictions by Goya, Manet, and Picasso were fundamental for works from the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. I also discuss how brick walls take on various functions in different depictions, constructing the composition and the semantic field of the painting whilst underlining the specificity of the painting as a medium and the two-dimensionality of the canvas.
My intertextual interpretation of ”Execution against a Wall” is based on parallels between Jean-Paul Sartre’s short story ”Le Mur” and Wróblewski’s painting. In the case of Wróblewski’s work we are confronted with a representation of two people who, in the face of looming death, start to resemble each other. Any individual qualities disappear and differences are abolished, yet death does not unite them.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-cfd44ceca0a14abd99d41f62e3de840a |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2956-4158 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2019-01-01 |
| publisher | Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Miejsce |
| spelling | doaj-art-cfd44ceca0a14abd99d41f62e3de840a2025-08-23T21:34:52ZengAcademy of Fine Arts in WarsawMiejsce2956-41582019-01-01510.48285/8kaepzco3pThe Brick Wall in Andrzej Wróblewski’s ”Execution against a Wall” and Jean-Paul Sartre’s ”Le Mur”: An Intertextual RelationMagdalena Gemrahttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-8495-1609In 1949, Andrzej Wróblewski (1927–1957) created eight paintings entitled ”Executions”. They were an attempt to develop a new language for art, which was facing a crisis of representation after the horrors of the war. This article takes on the task of an analysis and interpretation of Wróblewski’s ”Execution against a Wall”, a painting that has largely been overlooked and disregarded as conventional. In ”Execution against a Wall”, the wall limits the field of vision while forcing the viewer to engage in the performance, creating an arena or stage. I discuss the many visual sources that also depict executions set against the background of a wall. Iconic depictions by Goya, Manet, and Picasso were fundamental for works from the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. I also discuss how brick walls take on various functions in different depictions, constructing the composition and the semantic field of the painting whilst underlining the specificity of the painting as a medium and the two-dimensionality of the canvas. My intertextual interpretation of ”Execution against a Wall” is based on parallels between Jean-Paul Sartre’s short story ”Le Mur” and Wróblewski’s painting. In the case of Wróblewski’s work we are confronted with a representation of two people who, in the face of looming death, start to resemble each other. Any individual qualities disappear and differences are abolished, yet death does not unite them. https://miejsce.asp.waw.pl/en/ceglany-mur-w-rozstrzelaniu-na-scianie-andrzeja-wroblewskiego-i-le-mur-jeana-paula-sartrea-relacja-intertekstualna/magdalena gemrajean-paul sartrele murandrzej wróblewskiexecutions |
| spellingShingle | Magdalena Gemra The Brick Wall in Andrzej Wróblewski’s ”Execution against a Wall” and Jean-Paul Sartre’s ”Le Mur”: An Intertextual Relation Miejsce magdalena gemra jean-paul sartre le mur andrzej wróblewski executions |
| title | The Brick Wall in Andrzej Wróblewski’s ”Execution against a Wall” and Jean-Paul Sartre’s ”Le Mur”: An Intertextual Relation |
| title_full | The Brick Wall in Andrzej Wróblewski’s ”Execution against a Wall” and Jean-Paul Sartre’s ”Le Mur”: An Intertextual Relation |
| title_fullStr | The Brick Wall in Andrzej Wróblewski’s ”Execution against a Wall” and Jean-Paul Sartre’s ”Le Mur”: An Intertextual Relation |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Brick Wall in Andrzej Wróblewski’s ”Execution against a Wall” and Jean-Paul Sartre’s ”Le Mur”: An Intertextual Relation |
| title_short | The Brick Wall in Andrzej Wróblewski’s ”Execution against a Wall” and Jean-Paul Sartre’s ”Le Mur”: An Intertextual Relation |
| title_sort | brick wall in andrzej wroblewski s execution against a wall and jean paul sartre s le mur an intertextual relation |
| topic | magdalena gemra jean-paul sartre le mur andrzej wróblewski executions |
| url | https://miejsce.asp.waw.pl/en/ceglany-mur-w-rozstrzelaniu-na-scianie-andrzeja-wroblewskiego-i-le-mur-jeana-paula-sartrea-relacja-intertekstualna/ |
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