Aleksiun Operetka Poster - Original 1970s Polish Theater Art

Specifications
Artist / Designer: Jan Aleksiun (Polish, b. 1940)
Playwright: Witold Gombrowicz (1904–1969)
Production: Operetka (Operetta), Teatr Współczesny in Wrocław
Publisher / Issue Entity: Desa Foreign Trade Enterprise, Warsaw
Official Catalog Designation: First Class Posters Collection, Poster No. 136
Year of Design: 1972
Type: Original Polish School of Posters Theater Graphic (Export Edition)
Dimensions: B1 format, c. 67x97 cm (27x39 inches)
Condition: Vintage state, subtle flesh tone gradations
 
Description (About the Artwork)
This original vintage print is a verified Aleksiun Operetka poster, commissioned for a major theatrical staging of Witold Gombrowicz’s avant-garde play Operetka (Operetta) at the Teatr Współczesny in Wrocław, Poland. Documented along the lower margin as part of the official state-sanctioned "First Class Posters Collection" by Desa Warsaw (bearing the archival identifier Poster No. 136), this lithographic print represents a highly prized international export artifact. Designed in 1972 by master graphist Jan Aleksiun, the sophisticated composition features a striking surrealist study of a female nude form covered in white soap bubbles, where one eye is obscured by an opaque white orb. Seamlessly integrating ironic vintage French advertising cutouts, this rare B1 format piece stands as an institutional-grade icon of mid-century European cultural design.
 
About the Designer
Jan Aleksiun (b. 1940) is an acclaimed Polish graphic designer, illustrator, and professor who served as one of the central figures of the famous Wrocław graphic design circle within the Polish Poster School. A graduate and former rector of the Academy of Fine Arts in Wrocław, Aleksiun developed a highly sophisticated, literary visual style characterized by delicate painterly textures, muted color spaces, and deep intellectual irony. Over his highly influential career, he authored dozens of definitive posters for theater, opera, and international art exhibitions. His masterworks are held in elite national archives and prominent print collections across Europe and North America.