Stanisław Szukalski is a sculptor, painter, artist and one of the most colorful figures in the artistic world of the interwar period. Today he is perceived as an eccentric creator who was ahead of his time. He is also associated with the pseudoscience he created, Zermatism. For over 40 years, he tried to prove that humanity originated from Easter Island, where – according to him – ancient Poles also came from. “Stach from Warta”, apart from works of art that only partially survived the war, left behind 25,000. pages of considerations on the origin of humanity from 14,000 pages. illustration. He remained forgotten for a long time. He was only introduced to the world again, for whom Szukalski was like a grandfather.
Stanisław Szukalski emigrated to Chicago as a 20-year-old. He was a controversial figure
Stanisław Szukalski was born in 1893 in Warta near Sieradz. Already as a child, he was passionate about sculpture. When he was 15, his parents sent him to the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. Even though he was very young, he was accepted anyway. Already in 1911 he received the first awards for his sculptures. He used Jacek Malczewski’s studio and exhibited his works together with Malczewski and Witkacy. In 1913 he emigrated to Chicago. There he continued his studies, although his financial situation was not the best. Despite this, his work attracted attention in artistic circles, and the man also earned extra money, among others. in the slaughterhouse.
In the 1920s, Szukalski came to Poland for a short time. It was then that an exhibition was organized at Zachęta in Warsaw. His works aroused admiration, but also criticism. It grew every year. Although Szukalski won the competition for the design of the Mickiewicz monument, which was to be erected in Vilnius, after a heated discussion and protests, his proposal was ultimately rejected. In 1928, under the influence of growing criticism, Szukalski gave a speech in which he attacked the Polish artistic sphere in harsh words.
A year later, he issued a rather specific manifesto in which he once again attacked the artistic community that criticized him. Szukalski in Poland began to be perceived as a personality that aroused a lot of emotions. For some he was a patriot, for others he was a chauvinist with a strange passion. However, he had his supporters, with whom he founded the Szukalszczyki Tribe of the Rogate Serce coat of arms, which operated until 1936. They were engaged in art, but also in promoting Slavic nationalism.
Exhibition of works by Stanisław Szukalski and the ‘Rogate Serce’ tribe at the Society of Friends of Fine Arts in Krakow, 1936 Stanisław Szukalski. Photo National Digital Archives
After the war, Stanisław Szukalski tried to regain his achievements. Unsuccessfully
For some time, Stanisław Szukalski traveled between Poland and the United States. Eventually, the artist returned to Poland, not without financial assistance from the Polish authorities. He began to achieve further successes. Then she came. Szukalski, who was an American citizen, took refuge in the embassy and soon fled from Poland to the United States. However, almost all artistic possessions remained in Poland, destroyed by the Germans and stolen. Szukalski tried to survive financially. It was then that he also became interested in the history of humanity. He settled in Los Angeles, and the local authorities granted him a pension of $250. From the 1940s until the end of his life, he worked intensively on the theory of Zermatism (a pseudoscience he created regarding the origins of humanity). Today, all notes on this subject amount to 42 volumes of typescript (approx. 25,000 pages) and 14,000. illustration. For many years he tried unsuccessfully to recover works stolen and left in Poland.
He died on May 19, 1987, and his ashes were scattered on Easter Island, considered by Szukalski to be the cradle of humanity. And although he devoted over 40 years to proving his theory, he never reached the island during his lifetime.
Years later, his case was publicized by Leonardo DiCaprio. Szukalski was like a grandfather to the actor
In Los Angeles, Szukalski’s neighbors were the DiCaprio family. As a child, Leonardo DiCaprio often spent time at Szukalski’s house and studio, whom he treated like a grandfather. Finally, he decided to remind the world about him and produce a documentary. This is how the film “Fight: The Life and Lost Work of Stanisław Szukalski” was created, which debuted in Poland on Netflix in 2018. The film shows, among others: taped fragments of conversations with Szukalski’s friend, Glenn Bray, who today takes care of his legacy.
Source: Gazeta
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