Pagowski Fredro Poster - Original Vintage Polish Theater Art

Specifications
Artist / Designer: Andrzej Pągowski (Polish, b. 1953)
Playwright: Aleksander Fredro (1793–1876)
Production: Mąż i żona (Husband and Wife)
Printer: Zakład Poligraficzny AGPOL
Publisher / Issue Entity: Desa Foreign Trade Enterprise
Official Catalog Designation: First Class Posters Collection, Poster No. P-165
Type: Original Polish School of Posters Theater Graphic (Export Edition)
Dimensions: B1 format, c. 67x97 cm (27x39 inches)
Condition: Vintage state, rich solid red and black ink contrast
 
Description (About the Artwork)
This original vintage print is a verified Pagowski Fredro poster, commissioned to promote Aleksander Fredro’s classic nineteenth-century comedy Mąż i żona (Husband and Wife). Documented along the lower right margin as an official international export artifact from the prestigious "First Class Posters Collection" by the state enterprise Desa Warsaw (bearing the archival identifier Poster No. P-165), this lithographic print was executed by the specialized AGPOL workshop. Designed by the celebrated master of the later Polish Poster School, Andrzej Pągowski, the highly clever and minimalist composition features a black gentleman's top hat set against a striking crimson red background. In a brilliant displays of visual double entendre, the crown of the hat seamlessly contours into a stylized female nude form, serving as a witty graphic allegory for the play's themes of marital infidelity, desire, and romantic deception. This rare B1 format piece stands as an institutional-grade icon of mid-century European cultural design history.
 
About the Designer
Andrzej Pągowski (b. 1953) is one of the most prolific and internationally recognized graphic designers, painters, and multimedia artists representing the dynamic later generation of the Polish Poster School. A graduate of the State Higher School of Fine Arts in Poznań under the guidance of legendary master Waldemar Świerzy, Pągowski developed a highly expressive, versatile visual language that fluidly spans from brutal realism to conceptual wit. Over his brilliant career, he authored over a thousand cultural, film, and political posters. His award-winning graphics are housed inside premier global fine art institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York and the permanent collections of the Centre Pompidou in Paris.