Patryk Pawel Tomaszewski
Patryk P. Tomaszewski is an Adjunct Lecturer at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY, where he has taught since 2016, and a Ph.D. Candidate in Art History at The Graduate Center, CUNY. His research examines Socialist Realist art in the former Soviet satellite states, specifically in Poland, under the Stalinist regime (1949-1956). By focusing on state-sponsored exhibitions of painting and sculpture, it analyzes the ways in which the cultural model of Socialist Realism—and the idealized version of reality it hoped to transmit—was received, institutionalized, and circulated among the post-war societies in Central and Eastern Europe.
Mr. Tomaszewski previously served the Mellon Humanities Alliance Teaching Fellow at La Guardia Community College and completed internship programs at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and The Museum of Modern Art in New York. His writing has been published, among other outlets, in “ArtMargins Online” and “post. Notes on Modern and Contemporary Art Around the Globe managed and edited by the curatorial staff at MoMA. In 2020, he contributed an essay to the edited monographic volume on the Polish contemporary artist Xawery Wolski published by Skira. Most recently, he organized an exhibition titled “Henryk Stazewski: Constructing Reliefs” (October to November 2021) at the Kosciuszko Foundation in New York, for which he also served as the catalogue editor.
Expertise
Twentieth-century Western art; Socialist Realisms; Eastern European and Russian avant-gardes; art under authoritarian regimes; history of photography
Degrees
- M.Phil., Art History, The Graduate Center, City University of New York
- M.A., History of Art and Archaeology, The Institute of Fine Arts, New York University
- B.A. (hons), Art History and German, Fordham University
Courses Taught
- Using a global approach, this introduction to art history includes the study of painting, sculpture, architecture and other media by surveying the Renaissance through the start of the twentieth century. The exploration of techniques, media, composition, and figure representation will provide an understanding of key concepts in the arts with additional focus on the historical and social context, which developed the meaning and changing styles in different cultures as well as the effects of cultural exchange through the arts.
- This introduction to Modern and Contemporary art history includes the study of painting, sculpture, architecture and other media by surveying the development and evolution of artistic styles using a global approach. Emphasis will be placed on groundbreaking artistic movements in context to their historical framework. Students will learn the importance of innovative practices, techniques and new avenues of exploration, by understanding the socio-political and cultural events that influenced artists to create groundbreaking works, which have led the way to Contemporary Art.
Research and Projects
My current research focuses on Polish Socialist Realism under the Stalinist regime (1949-1956). Recently, I had a chance to present my work on the Polish artist Felicjan Szczesny-Kowarski at the XXXVI. Deutscher Kunsthistorikertag in Stuttgart in March 2022.
Publications
- “Henryk Stażewski’s Path to Reliefs, 1950-1959,” Henryk Stażewski: Constructing Reliefs, exhibition catalogue, ed. Patryk P. Tomaszewski (New York: The Kosciuszko Foundation, 2021)
- “Chains and Crosses: The Political Iconography of Xawery Wolski’s Dark Series (1988-1992)” in Xawery Wolski, ed. Vincenza Russo (Milan: Skira Editore, 2020)
- “Female Artists and the Surrealist Body in East Central Europe after 1945,” The Female Gaze: Women Surrealists in the Americas and Europe, exhibition catalogue, ed. Gloria Orenstein (New York: Heather James Fine Art, 2019)
- “The Many Lives of El Lissitzky’s Proun 19D (1920 or 1921),” MoMA post (www.post.moma.org), The Museum of Modern Art, New York, January 2019 (commissioned online article)
- “Wojciech Fangor’s Movement in the Early 1960s,” Wojciech Fangor: The Early 1960s, Exhibition catalogue, (New York: Heather James Fine Art, 2018)
Honors, Awards and Affiliations
- Presidential Research Fellowship, The Graduate Center, CUNY (2020-2023)
- Kosciuszko Foundation Research Grant, The Kosciuszko Foundation, New York (2021)
- Rose Carol Washton Long Travel Grant, The Graduate Center, CUNY (2018)
- Mellon Humanities Alliance Fellowship, The Graduate Center, CUNY (2017-2019)
