Objects

Marek Szwarc attached small drawings to his letters to his wife and daughter: sketches of grazing horses, images of a large dog, one of them signed: "mon ami le chien [my dog friend] | ms | 1941". He drew them either on small sheets of paper or directly on the envelopes of letters. For he could only dream of artistic work other than drawing: "As for sculpting, it is out of the question here too, because they give me neither the time nor the means for that". (original spelling). Moving to London and starting "serious" creative work is one of the topics often discussed in letters. That did not happen until the autumn of 1943, when, on a commission from the Polish Army, he produced "a gorget in silver, depicting two Polish soldiers and a statue of Our Lady of Czestochowa - a gift from the Polish Army to Cardinal [Arthur] Hinsley" (k., "Rzeźby Polaka w Instytucie Francuskim" [Polish Sculptures in the French Institute], Dziennik Polski i Dziennik Żołnierza [Polish Journal and Soldier's Journal] of 27 October 1955). Szwarc was then given a studio at the Royal College of Art in London's Kensington district. A sculptural portrait of Gina was also created in London (see MPOLIN-M31).

Renata Piątkowska