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Warsaw
Lipinski, S. - Enlarge image
Warsaw
- Object:
Poster
- Place of origin:
Italy (probably, printed)
- Date:
1944 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Lipinski, S. (maker)
Polish Government Information Centre, London (publishers) - Materials and Techniques:
Colour lithograph on paper
- Credit Line:
Gift of the American Friends of the V&A; Gift to the American Friends by Leslie, Judith and Gabri Schreyer and Alice Schreyer Batko
- Museum number:
E.284-2004
- Gallery location:
Prints & Drawings Study Room, level C, case Y60, shelf E
The Warsaw statue pictured here is a poignant allegory of the city's suffering under the German occupation which began in 1939. The image also suggests salvation, with the Christ figure gesturing towards the light. This could refer to the glimpse of liberation gained during the August-October 1944 uprising of the Polish Home Army. Alternatively, the poster could date to the period of reprisals when Hitler razed Warsaw to the ground. The statue became famous as one of the few things to survive the destruction and could therefore appear here as both a lament and a testament of defiant hope.
