Stanislaw Szukalski
Encyclopedia
Stanisław Szukalski was a Polish
-born painter
and sculptor. He also developed the pseudoscientific
-historical
theory of Zermatism, positing that all human culture was derived from post-deluge Easter Island
and that mankind was locked in an eternal struggle with the Sons of Yeti ("Yetinsyny"), the offspring of Yeti
and humans. He illustrated this theory in his works.
in his teens, where he joined the arts scene
in Chicago
. Ben Hecht
, who knew Szukalski in the 1920s, described him in his 1954
autobiography A Child of the Century as starving, muscular, aristocratic and disdainful of lesser beings than himself—traits Szukalski retained for the rest of his life. In 1929 was a founder of an artistic movement called Tribe of the Horned Heart (Szczep Rogate Serce) - centered on Polish artists who sought inspiration in the pagan or pre-Christian history of Poland.
Szukalski returned to Poland in 1934, when the government proclaimed him their "Greatest Living Artist" and built the Szukalski National Museum to house his works. In 1939, the Nazi
Siege of Warsaw
resulted in the destruction of the museum and his life's work. Szukalski moved to Southern California
, where he languished in obscurity, supporting himself by drawing maps for an aerospace
company.
In 1971, Glenn Bray, a publisher who had previously specialized in the work of Mad Magazine artist Basil Wolverton
, befriended him and later published one book of Szukalski's art, Inner Portraits (1980), and another of his art and philosophy, A Trough Full of Pearls / Behold! The Protong (1982). Bray and his wife Lena Zwalve maintain Szukalski's estate and the great bulk of his existing art under the name "Archives Szukalski."
Zermatism, Szukalski's concept of world history, postulated that all human culture derived from post-deluge Easter Island
and that in all human languages one can find traces of the original, ancient mother-tongue of mankind. In his view, humanity was locked in an eternal struggle with the Sons of Yeti ("Yetinsyny"), the offspring of Yeti
and humans, who had enslaved humanity from time immemorial. He claimed that the figures of the god Pan on Greek vases depict creatures that actually existed, the product of Yeti apes raping human women. Szukalski used his considerable artistic talents to illustrate his theories, which, despite their lack of scientific merit, have gained a cult following largely on their aesthetic value. The irony of this would have likely infuriated the hyper-curmudgeonly Szukalski. Among Szukalski's admirers are Leonardo DiCaprio
, who sponsored a retrospective exhibition entitled "Struggle" at the Laguna Art Museum
in 2000, the Church of the SubGenius
, which incorporates the Yetinsyny elements of Zermatism, and the band Tool
, who recommended "any collection of works you can find by this man is well worth the effort".
Szukalski's works are on permanent display at the Polish Museum of America
in Chicago
, as well as at the Polish
National Museum in Warsaw
. In addition to the Laguna retrospective, notable exhibitions of his work include "The Self-Born" at Varnish Fine Art, San Francisco, in 2005 and "Mantong and Protong," where Szukalski is paired with another unorthodox theorist of earth history, Richard Sharpe Shaver
, at Pasadena City College
in 2009.
Following Szukalski's death in 1987, a group of his admirers spread his ashes on Easter Island
, in the rock quarry of Rano Raraku
.
For info on Szukalski, Rabindranath Tagore and artist Mukul Dey visit:
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
-born painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
and sculptor. He also developed the pseudoscientific
Pseudoscience
Pseudoscience is a claim, belief, or practice which is presented as scientific, but which does not adhere to a valid scientific method, lacks supporting evidence or plausibility, cannot be reliably tested, or otherwise lacks scientific status...
-historical
Pseudohistory
Pseudohistory is a pejorative term applied to a type of historical revisionism, often involving sensational claims whose acceptance would require rewriting a significant amount of commonly accepted history, and based on methods that depart from standard historiographical conventions.Cryptohistory...
theory of Zermatism, positing that all human culture was derived from post-deluge Easter Island
Easter Island
Easter Island is a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian triangle. A special territory of Chile that was annexed in 1888, Easter Island is famous for its 887 extant monumental statues, called moai, created by the early Rapanui people...
and that mankind was locked in an eternal struggle with the Sons of Yeti ("Yetinsyny"), the offspring of Yeti
Yeti
The Yeti or Abominable Snowman is an ape-like cryptid said to inhabit the Himalayan region of Nepal, and Tibet. The names Yeti and Meh-Teh are commonly used by the people indigenous to the region, and are part of their history and mythology...
and humans. He illustrated this theory in his works.
Overview
Szukalski immigrated to the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in his teens, where he joined the arts scene
Visual arts of Chicago
Visual arts of Chicago refers to paintings, prints, illustrations, textile art, sculpture, ceramics and other visual artworks produced in Chicago or by people with a connection to Chicago. Since World War II, Chicago visual art has had a strong individualistic streak, little influenced by outside...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. Ben Hecht
Ben Hecht
Ben Hecht was an American screenwriter, director, producer, playwright, and novelist. Called "the Shakespeare of Hollywood", he received screen credits, alone or in collaboration, for the stories or screenplays of some 70 films and as a prolific storyteller, authored 35 books and created some of...
, who knew Szukalski in the 1920s, described him in his 1954
1954 in literature
The year 1954 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Jack Kerouac reads Dwight Goddard's A Buddhist Bible, which will influence him greatly.*John Updike graduates from Harvard with a thesis on George Herbert....
autobiography A Child of the Century as starving, muscular, aristocratic and disdainful of lesser beings than himself—traits Szukalski retained for the rest of his life. In 1929 was a founder of an artistic movement called Tribe of the Horned Heart (Szczep Rogate Serce) - centered on Polish artists who sought inspiration in the pagan or pre-Christian history of Poland.
Szukalski returned to Poland in 1934, when the government proclaimed him their "Greatest Living Artist" and built the Szukalski National Museum to house his works. In 1939, the Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
Siege of Warsaw
Siege of Warsaw
* Siege of Warsaw – by Swedish forces during Deluge* Siege of Warsaw – by Swedish and Transylvanian forces during Deluge* First siege of Warsaw – by Russian and Prussian forces during Kościuszko Uprising...
resulted in the destruction of the museum and his life's work. Szukalski moved to Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
, where he languished in obscurity, supporting himself by drawing maps for an aerospace
Aerospace
Aerospace comprises the atmosphere of Earth and surrounding space. Typically the term is used to refer to the industry that researches, designs, manufactures, operates, and maintains vehicles moving through air and space...
company.
In 1971, Glenn Bray, a publisher who had previously specialized in the work of Mad Magazine artist Basil Wolverton
Basil Wolverton
Basil Wolverton was an American cartoonist, illustrator, comic book writer-artist and professed "Producer of Preposterous Pictures of Peculiar People who Prowl this Perplexing Planet", whose many publishers included Marvel Comics and Mad.His unique, humorously grotesque drawings have elicited a...
, befriended him and later published one book of Szukalski's art, Inner Portraits (1980), and another of his art and philosophy, A Trough Full of Pearls / Behold! The Protong (1982). Bray and his wife Lena Zwalve maintain Szukalski's estate and the great bulk of his existing art under the name "Archives Szukalski."
Zermatism, Szukalski's concept of world history, postulated that all human culture derived from post-deluge Easter Island
Easter Island
Easter Island is a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian triangle. A special territory of Chile that was annexed in 1888, Easter Island is famous for its 887 extant monumental statues, called moai, created by the early Rapanui people...
and that in all human languages one can find traces of the original, ancient mother-tongue of mankind. In his view, humanity was locked in an eternal struggle with the Sons of Yeti ("Yetinsyny"), the offspring of Yeti
Yeti
The Yeti or Abominable Snowman is an ape-like cryptid said to inhabit the Himalayan region of Nepal, and Tibet. The names Yeti and Meh-Teh are commonly used by the people indigenous to the region, and are part of their history and mythology...
and humans, who had enslaved humanity from time immemorial. He claimed that the figures of the god Pan on Greek vases depict creatures that actually existed, the product of Yeti apes raping human women. Szukalski used his considerable artistic talents to illustrate his theories, which, despite their lack of scientific merit, have gained a cult following largely on their aesthetic value. The irony of this would have likely infuriated the hyper-curmudgeonly Szukalski. Among Szukalski's admirers are Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio is an American actor and film producer. He has received many awards, including a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Aviator , and has been nominated by the Academy Awards, Screen Actors Guild and the British Academy of Film and Television...
, who sponsored a retrospective exhibition entitled "Struggle" at the Laguna Art Museum
Laguna Art Museum
The Laguna Art Museum is a museum located in Laguna Beach, California on Pacific Coast Highway.An exhibition titled ...
in 2000, the Church of the SubGenius
Church of the SubGenius
The Church of the SubGenius is a "parody religion" organization that satirizes religion, conspiracy theories, unidentified flying objects, and popular culture. Originally based in Dallas, Texas, the Church of the SubGenius gained prominence in the 1980s and 1990s and maintains an active presence on...
, which incorporates the Yetinsyny elements of Zermatism, and the band Tool
Tool (band)
Tool is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1990, the group's line-up has included drummer Danny Carey, guitarist Adam Jones, and vocalist Maynard James Keenan. Since 1995, Justin Chancellor has been the band's bassist, replacing their original bassist Paul D'Amour...
, who recommended "any collection of works you can find by this man is well worth the effort".
Szukalski's works are on permanent display at the Polish Museum of America
Polish Museum of America
The Polish Museum of America is located in West Town, in what had been the historical Polish Downtown neighborhood of Chicago. It is home to a plethora of Polish artifacts, artwork, and embroidered folk costumes among its growing collection...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, as well as at the Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
National Museum in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
. In addition to the Laguna retrospective, notable exhibitions of his work include "The Self-Born" at Varnish Fine Art, San Francisco, in 2005 and "Mantong and Protong," where Szukalski is paired with another unorthodox theorist of earth history, Richard Sharpe Shaver
Richard Sharpe Shaver
Richard Sharpe Shaver was an American writer and artist.He achieved notoriety in the years following World War II as the author of controversial stories which were printed in science fiction magazines , in which he claimed that he had personal experience of a sinister, ancient...
, at Pasadena City College
Pasadena City College
Pasadena City College is a community college in Pasadena, California, USA, located on Colorado Boulevard. PCC is the third largest community college campus in the United States. PCC was founded in 1924 as Pasadena Junior College. In 1954, Pasadena Junior College merged with another junior...
in 2009.
Following Szukalski's death in 1987, a group of his admirers spread his ashes on Easter Island
Easter Island
Easter Island is a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian triangle. A special territory of Chile that was annexed in 1888, Easter Island is famous for its 887 extant monumental statues, called moai, created by the early Rapanui people...
, in the rock quarry of Rano Raraku
Rano Raraku
Rano Raraku is a volcanic crater formed of consolidated volcanic ash, or tuff, and located on the lower slopes of Terevaka in the Rapa Nui National Park on Easter Island. It was a quarry for about 500 years until the early eighteenth century, and supplied the stone from which about 95% of the...
.
External links
- Szukalski.com – official website (English)
- Szukalski.pl – official website (Polish)
- Zermatism entry at Paranormality.com
For info on Szukalski, Rabindranath Tagore and artist Mukul Dey visit:
- http://www.chitralekha.org/stanislav.htm