Showcasing the extraordinary achievements of the proponents of Polish modernism from the 1890s to 1918, this ground-breaking book brings together pioneering research with beautiful imagery. Mloda Polska, or Young Poland, embraced the integration of fine and applied arts, motivated by a desire to establish a distinctive national style at a time of political uncertainty. Patriotic values were expressed through a diverse visual language that was fuelled by national identity, but also looked beyond Poland to Western Europe and the influences of Impressionism, Expressionism, Symbolism, Art Nouveau, while also displaying parallels with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. Young Poland's painting has been discussed within an international arena, but its decorative arts and architecture has yet to enjoy broad exposure. Here, for the first time, the considerable achievements of the movement's applied artists will be discussed, both from a national and international perspective. Highlighting Young Poland's integration of fine and decorative arts, the movement's ideological, stylistic and formal commonalities with British Arts and Crafts, and the vision of Ruskin and Morris, will be drawn out to provide fascinating insights for Western and Eastern audiences alike.

Julia Griffin (née Dudkiewicz) is an art historian and curator specialising in the Arts &Crafts Movement and Victorian painting. Her PhD explores William Morris and D.G.Rossetti (Central Saint Martins, UAL). Julia has been responsible for a number of innovative exhibitions and permanent collection rehangs, notably the City’s New Collection Displays (2015) at the Guildhall Art Gallery, for which she was awarded Freedom of the City of London. Recent publications include contributions to May Morris. Art and Life (William Morris Gallery, 2017)and Routledge Research Companion to William Morris (2020). Andrzej Szczerski is Director of the National Museum in Kraków and Professor in the Art History Department at Jagiellonian University. He has published extensively on 20th-century art, design, and architecture, including a pioneering study on the reception of British art in Central Europe Views of Albion, The Reception of British Art and Design in Central Europe (1890–1918) (Peter Lang Oxford: 2015). He has curated exhibitions on19th and 20th century art and architecture, and in 2009 he co-curated "Symbolism in Poland and Britain" at the Tate Britain in London.

Acknowledgements; Preface: Young Poland and the Search for a National Style; Editors’ Introduction: Young Poland and the Arts and Crafts Movement, 1890–1918 – A New Perspective; PART 1: The Making of the Polish Arts and Crafts Movement: Key People, Places and Ideas; 1. The Reception of the Pre-Raphaelites and the Arts and Crafts Movement in Poland; 2. Fellow Arts and Crafts Reformers Stanislaw Wyspianski and William Morris: Parallel Lives; 3. ‘Let Us Surround Ourselves With Our Own Beauty’: Stanislaw Wyspianski’s Decorative Scheme for the Franciscan Church in Kraków; 4. ‘Disappointed Love’: Stanislaw Wyspianski and Wawel; 5. Wyspianski’s Chocholy: A Meditation on the ‘Straw Man’ Generation; 6. The Zakopane Style of Stanislaw Witkiewicz; 7. Karol Klosowski and the Silent Villa: Living the Arts and Crafts Life in the Tatras; 8. Karol Klosowski (1882–1971): The Last Young Poland Artist and a Genius for Ornament; 9. ‘Fine Handwork of Various Professions’: The Kraków Workshops; 10. Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska (b.1891, Kraków, d.1945, Manchester): The Pictorial Art of Young Poland’s Daughter; PART 2: Objects and Craft Practices in Focus; 11. Interiors and Furniture; 12. Edward Bartlomiejczyk’s Design for a Nursery; 13. Textiles; 14. Ceramics; 15. Children’s Toys and Christmas-Tree Decorations from the Kraków Workshops; 16. The Book Beautiful; 17. Painting; Notes; Select Bibliography; Contributor Biographies; Index; Image Credits