1908

Drohobych. In his drawing class, Bruno Schulz creates a clay model of a commemorative plaque, the reproduction of which is later published as a postcard.

The curriculum for 6th grade drawing lessons which Schulz attended in 1908 included figural modeling1. Classes were conducted by Franciszek Chrząstowski2. It is probably under his direction that Schulz creates a clay model of a commemorative plaque, depicting an allegorical, symbolic scene with a rather undefined ideological orientation. In its centre, there is a female figure, perhaps a muse, who inspires two young men sitting at her feet: one playing the lyre (or harp) and the other bending over a book. To the left of the group, a sphinx is shown frontally. Above it, the right profile of an unidentifiable figure (growing out of plant forms), pointing with his/her left hand to a burning candle on the opposite side of the board. At the bottom right, an indistinct signature that reads as “B. Schulz”.

Stylistically, the relief follows the aesthetics of the Art Nouveau. It was created at the same time as the sketchbook of young Schulz, dated 1907–1908, containing pencil designs of related compositions (cf. cards 12, 17, 18r). His later bookplate designs follow a similar style. 

 

The purpose of the plauqe is unknown. It is only known that Schulz’s work, having obtained the approval of school authorities, was photographed and then published as a postcard by the bookshop of Ludwik Gertsman3 from Drohobych. Jerzy Ficowski* claims that it happened thanks to the efforts of Schulz’s father4, but he does not provide any source for this information. It is not known whether he has ever seen this postcard himself, or whether it is based on second-hand information, because the text of the inscription he provided under the reproduction is inaccurate. The correct version is: “Memorial designed by B. Schulz, 6th grade student of the middle school in Drohobych”.

The only known copy of this postcard was issued on November 24, 2012 at the 35th auction organised by the Lamus antique shop in Warsaw and sold for eleven thousand zlotys.

See also: November 24, 2012 (sr) (transl. mw)

  • 1
    Statement of the board of the Imperial-Royal Secondary School in Drohobych for the 1908 school year, Drohobych 1908, p. 12.
  • 2
    Ibid., p. 50. 
  • 3
    The full name of the company: “Ludwik Gerstman – Bookshop and Paper Store, Expedition of Journals and Magazines in Drohobych”. Gerstman also issued other postcards; see, for example, the card issued in 1912, showing the Drohobych Secondary School (in the collection of the Borderland Cultures Documentation Centre in Sejny, ref. no. P3177).
  • 4
    Jerzy Ficowski, Regiony wielkiej herezji i okolice. Bruno Schulz i jego mitologia, Sejny 2002, p. 488.