Olga Siemaszko

Dubbed the first lady of Polish illustration, she had a significant influence on the development of post-war Polish book illustration. She created illustrationsc for nearly two hundred books.

Portrait image

Podpis obrazka portretowego

Olga Siemaszko, photo: from the book by Barbara Gawryluk 'Illustrators, Butterflies from the Cover and Dragons Without a Mustache' / Marginesy Publishing

Olga Siemaszko was born in Kraków and it was there that she began her artistic education – she studied at the State School of Decorative Arts and Artistic Industry, based on the model of similar schools in Vienna and Prague, with the aim of uniting different fields of art, integrating visual arts and crafts. In 1935, the future illustrator moved to Warsaw, to study at the Academy of Fine Arts, where she learned both graphic design and printmaking, as well as drawing and painting.

Picture display

standardowy (864px desktop)

Olga Siemaszko, illustration from the book 'Fairy Tales from the Gorce', photo: IAM

Picture image

38_siemaszko_.basnie_spod_.jpg

The outbreak of World War II happened when she was in Lviv, and the first job she took up in 1945 was designing scenery and programme covers for theatres in Łódź. It was in this city, destroyed to a much lesser degree than Warsaw, that institutions and cultural life began to revive. And it was here that Olga Siemaszko began working with the Czytelnik publishing house. Soon afterwards, she moved to Warsaw. For Czytelnik, she created her first illustrations – she designed both children’s and adult books. The first publication for the youngest with her illustrations was the fairy tale O Kaczce, Która Kaszkę Warzyła [About the Duck Who Brewed Porridge] by Bogdan Brzeziński. Almost at the same time, Siemaszko created, among other things, the graphic design for the poem Kwiaty Polskie [Polish Flowers] by Julian Tuwim.

Picture display

standardowy (864px desktop)

Olga Siemaszko, illustration from the book 'Grandfather Utopka's Lantern', photo: IAM

Picture image

31_siemaszko_.latarnia_._9.jpg

As early as 1945, the illustrator took up the post of artistic director of the children’s magazine Świerszczyk, which published texts or poems by, among others, Hanna Januszewska, Jan Brzechwa, Wanda Chotomska, Stanisław Grochowiak, Czesław Janczarski, Anna Kamieńska, Ludwik Jerzy Kern, Maria Kownacka, Tadeusz Kubiak, Joanna Kulmowa and others. Illustrations to Świerszczyk were created by, among others, Ha-Ga (Anna Gosławska-Lipińska), Julian Bohdanowicz, Bohdan Butenko, Bożena Truchanowska, Józef Wilkoń, Zdzisław Witwicki, Hanna Zakrzewska, Zbigniew Rychlicki. The originator of the title was Ewa Szelburg-Zarembina, the first cover was painted by Jan Marcin Szancer, and the first vignette was designed by Eryk Lipiński. Olga Siemaszkowa was the artistic director of Świerszczyk until 1961, largely responsible for the unique character of the magazine.

Picture display

standardowy (864px desktop)

Olga Siemaszko, illustration from the book 'Pinocchio', photo: IAM

Picture image

34_siemaszko_.pinokio_2.jpg

The first post-war decade was not easy for artists who had been shaped by the pre-war avant-garde. The doctrine of socialist realism demanded realistic and politically engaged works. It was then that many people with a background in painting and graphic arts took up illustrating books, especially those for children – for here, paradoxically, it was easier to create original works. It was then that the so-called Polish School of Illustration was born, developed in the following decades, co-created by eminent artists who treated children’s illustration as a full-fledged branch of art. Olga Siemaszkowa was not only a member of this milieu, creating works in this particular trend, but also co-authoring it as an editor in publishing houses. These included not only Czytelnik, but also many others, including Nasza Księgarnia, Biuro Wydawnicze Ruch, Krajowa Agencja Wydawnicza, Młodzieżowa Agencja Wydawnicza, Książka i Wiedza and Ludowa Spółdzielnia Wydawnicza.

Picture display

standardowy (864px desktop)

Olga Siemaszko, illustration from the book 'Grandfather Utopka's Lantern', photo: IAM

Picture image

33_siemaszko_olga_latarnia_dziadka_utopka_405.jpg

As an illustrator, Olga Siemaszko had a recognisable style. Her illustrations, enclosed in clear contours, were very colourful, simple and clear. The simplicity, however, was only in the way of drawing, because despite her apparent simplicity, the artist was able to include a lot of content in her drawings, and her characters always had individual characteristics. Their emotions are clear and each picture evokes a certain mood. In Olga Siemaszkowa’s works, some found inspiration in folk art (that’s where the strong contours filled with vivid colours would stem from), others appreciated the workshop of a thoroughly trained painter. Above all, however, her way of drawing was attractive and comprehensible to the youngest audience. In the memoirs of her co-workers, such as Józef Wilkoń or Zbigniew Rychlicki, one can find information that the artist would return to her works on the occasion of their reissues and correct them, improving them over and over again.

The list of books illustrated by Olga Siamaszko is very long. Among the best known are Alice in Wonderland, Tom Thumb, Locomotive and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. In 2000, moments before her death, Olga Siemaszko was awarded the Medal of the Polish Section of the IBBY for Lifetime Achievement for Children and Young People.

book illustration

contemporary polish graphic design

illustration for children