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Teoria widzenia (“Theory of Vision”) by Władysław Strzemiński, avant-garde painter and art theorist, was published in Italy. The translation by Alessandro Ajres was supported by the Book Institute as part of the ©Poland Translation Programme.
Teoria del vedere, as reads the title of the Italian translation, was published by the prestigious il Saggiatore publishing house.
What determines the way we perceive reality? Why did the ancient Greeks capture the world differently from 20th century avant-garde artists? And what is realism? These key questions for aesthetics are discussed by Władysław Strzemiński in his Theory of Vision.
First published in 1958, the work is a collection of lectures on the history of art given by the artist before he was dismissed by the communist authorities from the School of Fine Arts for failing to adhere to the canons of socialist realism.
Theory of Vision is the fruit of Strzeminski's long-term reflection and a remarkable testimony to the theoretical consciousness of an artist who had a lasting impact on the development of the visual arts. It is a work that teaches one to look at changes in artistic perception over time, and explains the relationship between the evolution of society and changes in art.
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The ©Poland Translation Programme is one of the Book Institute's flagship programmes. Its aim is to promote Polish literature around the world by providing financial support for the publication of Polish books in translation into foreign languages. Foreign publishers may use the funding grant to finance part of the work's publication costs, including, among other things, the translation of the work from Polish into another language, the purchase of copyright licences, and the printing of the book. In 2023 alone, we have subsidised 229 foreign editions of Polish books to be published by publishing houses from 46 countries, to which we have allocated almost PLN 5 million. In all editions of the programme, we have already subsidised a total of more than 3,000 translations of Polish books into foreign languages.