The group’s founders were Jankiel Adler, Moses Broderson, Marek Szwarc and Wincenty Brauner. Also, many figures from the wider artistic community were associated with them, amongst which the most active were: Henryk Barciński, Henryk Berlewi, Ida Brauner, Samuel Cygler, Zofia Gutentag, Icchak Kacenelson, Henoch Kohn, Pola Lindenfeld, Dina Matus, Moses Neuman, Natan Szpigel and Władysław Wajntraub.
Jung Jidysz was one of several expressionist groups active in the interwar period. Around 1917, this art movement was visible in the work of emerging artistic ensembles in various places in Poland: Polish Expressionists (later known as Formists) in Kraków, or Bunt (‘Rebellion’) and the circle connected to Zdrój (‘Source’) magazine in Poznań. Since 1919, the Łódź-based Jung Jidysz also started publishing a magazine, edited by Moses Broderson, in which it published its manifestos.
At that time, expressionism was understood by artists in a very broad sense – as the entirety of new artistic phenomena and aspirations. Jankiel Adler even identified it with the art of the 20th century in general. Different poetics dominated in different circles, and this is how, for example, the Formists combined expression of form with cubistic synthesis and sometimes also futuristic dynamics. Poznań artists, including the creators of the Jung Jidysz circle, created a different trend, inspired by what was happening in Berlin galleries. Apart from the reception of German expressionism, the art of Marc Chagall was extremely important for Łódź artists, which is especially visible in Adler’s work.
The history of this environment is still being reconstructed – until recently, Łódź was associated mainly with constructivist groups. The discovery of Jung Jidysz was hindered by the fact that most of the theoretical and programmatic texts were written in the Yiddish language, and the character of the work was largely based on its multicultural traits.
Artists from Jung Jidysz worked at the crossroads of different cultures and religions, going far beyond the Jewish tradition, often referring to Christianity and the symbolism of different cultural circles. At that time, the Łódź community was multinational in character, with Jews from Russia and Russians, Germans and Poles alike. Hence, the issues of national identity and religion were present in the art of the city (apart from Catholicism, there was a strong representation of Protestantism in Łódź; Orthodox Jews and Reformists were also active). What was valued was mutual understanding and community, with the prevailing attitude of acceptance for the separateness of the communities that were a part of this thoroughly modern city.
An important inspiration for the creators of Jung Jidysz was the very place where they were active. The artists’ works often referenced the dynamic city during its time of economic acceleration, and constant changes in the economic and social context. The city and its iconosphere are also connected with the element of primitivism, here identified with urban folklore, the aesthetics of signs and shop windows, but also with the aura of the poor, workers' districts of the dynamically developing industrial centre.
Although the Łódź avant-garde is automatically identified with the later activity of Władysław Strzemiński and Katarzyna Kobro, modern art found its place in this city before them. Wincenty Brauner (Icchak Brojner), a painter and graphic artist educated in Berlin, a Van Gogh art lover (in tribute to whom he took his name), founded the Art Salon at Piotrkowska Street. He presented his own works and those of his fellow artists. It was there that the first solo exhibition of Marek Szwarc (Schwarz), a painter, sculptor and graphic artist who worked in Paris, acquainted with the art of Marc Chagall, took place in 1915. Another figure from this circle was Henryk Barciński (Henoch Barczyński), a painter and graphic artist who received his education in the Glickenstein studio in Warsaw. Jankiel Adler, a painter and graphic artist who had previously been in Berlin, close to the Der Sturm gallery, joined the circle after the proclamation of Polish independence in 1918. The works of these artists formed the core of two important exhibitions that took place in Łódź in the spring and winter of 1918, organised by the Association of Artists and Supporters of Fine Arts.
At the beginning of 1918, an idea was put forward to form an artistic group called Jung Jidysz. At that time, the group was joined by Moses Broderson (Broderzon), who came from Moscow and became its leader and most important theoretician. He was not only a graphic artist, but above all a poet and dramatist. He made his debut with the volume Czarne Świecidełka (Black Trinkets) in Yiddish. Apart from Brauner, Schwarz, Barciński and Adler, the group was joined by artists Dina Matus, Ida Brauner (Wincenty's sister), Pola Lindenfeld and Zofia Gutenberg, as well as poets: Icchak Kacenelson and Jecheskiel Moses Neuman (Najman). The first part of the group's name referred to the strong tendency at the beginning of the last century to renew art and its means of expression. The second word indicated the character of the identity of the group's members. Yiddish is a synthesis of many languages and dialects, a way of communication developed in Eastern Europe by people of Jewish origin with little knowledge of Hebrew. Yiddish was considered by the intelligentsia to be the language of the lower classes. The creators associated in Jung Jidysz used it programmatically because it was to these social groups that they addressed their message.
This programmatic identity was reflected in slogans published in their magazine: ‘For art! For the young, beautiful Jewish language!’. By choosing Yiddish, the artists emphasised the character of Jewish art and its distinctiveness, as well as its eclecticism and variety of cultural references. They formulated their artistic message in Jung Jidysz not only with words but also with images and numerous illustrations, perfectly visible in the first issue of the magazine edited by Broderson, published on the occasion of Purim on 14 March 1919. It contained – similar to the next issue published on the occasion of Pesach on 15 April 1919 – a manifesto written by Broderson, which included, alongside the artistic demands, slogans that called to moral and religious revival. In the last issue, at the turn of November and December of 1919, Adler's article on Chagall was published and Kurt Heynicki's manifesto titled Soul of Art was reprinted. The published texts also often contained slogans about the need to break with the past, characteristic of all avant-garde of the interwar period.
Jung Jidysz painters took an active part in the artistic life of other cities. They exhibited their works in Warsaw and Białystok, amongst other places, and maintained constant contact with the Poznań-based Bunt. In 1921, together with Henryk Berlewi, they founded the Salon of Futurists, Cubists and Primitivists. Adler exhibited nineteen works – city scenes and performances inspired by the iconography of the New Testament. Biblical themes were also present in most of Brauner's 25 paintings. Some of the works from this exhibition were later moved to Warsaw, to an exhibition organised in the building of the Jewish Community at Grzybowska Street.
In 1921, the group's activity was terminated. The artists established numerous foreign contacts in connection with the exhibition of Jankiel Adler's works in New York, as well as his stay in Düsseldorf, where he made friends with members of the Das Junge Rheinland group. This resulted in the participation of some Jung Jidysz and Bunt artists in the 1st International New Art Exhibition at the Tietz Department Store in Düsseldorf in spring 1922. On this occasion, the founding congress of the Union of Progressive Artists was organised, proclaiming the need for exchange and international cooperation of artists. Shortly afterwards, Jankiel Adler participated in the Great Berlin Art Exhibition organised by November-Gruppe.
In 1922, some Jung Jidysz artists began to associate their activities more and more with the theatre. Broderson founded the famous puppet theatre Fawn (‘Chat Gadje’), in which he acted as a writer, animator and reader. Unusual expressionist puppets were prepared for him by Brauner, whilst music for the performances was composed by Henryk (Henoch) Kochn, also associated with Jung Jidysz. At the same time, the artists continued their exhibition activities individually and in groups. In 1923 there was an individual exhibition of Szwarc's works at the Polish Artistic Club in Warsaw and a retrospective exhibition of Brauner's works in the stained-glass room of the Casino in Łódź. That same year, Łódź hosted the International Exhibition of Young Art, organised by the Progressive Artists Union, during which the art of German artists, including Der Blaue Reiter and Die Brücke, was confronted with the achievements of the Polish avant-garde.
Sources:
Jerzy Malinowski, Malarstwo i rzeźba Żydów Polskich w XIX i XX wieku, Polish Scientific Publishers PWN, Warsaw 2000;
Przemysław Trzeciak, Wokół 'Jung Jidysz', Midrasz, no. 7-8/2001;
Marek Bartelik, Modele wolności: artyści łódzcy grupy Jung Jidysz 1919-1921, Midrasz, no. 5/2006.
Author: Magdalena Wróblewska, November 2010
