Armand Vetulani

Armand Vetulani (16 December 1909 – 3 April 1994)[2] was a Polish art historian and educator, first director of the Central Bureau for Art Exhibitions.

Armand Vetulani
Vetulani in the 1930s.[1]
Born(1909-12-16)16 December 1909
Died3 April 1994(1994-04-03) (aged 84)
Warszawa
CitizenshipPolish
Occupationart historian

Biography

He was the son of Eugeniusz Vetulani, brother of Zbigniew and Eugeniusz "Gajga" (an Auschwitz prisoner).[3] During the German occupation of Poland he was an underground educator, which was constantly threatened by the death penalty. Joanna Kulmowa remembered him from that period as a "wonderful teacher".[4] In her 1971 novel Trzy (Three) Kulmowa introduced a character called Dorian whose prototype was Vetulani.[5]

In Interwar period Vetulani worked in the Fine Arts Section of Ministry of Religious Denominations and Public Education in Warsaw – see picture below.

After the end of the war Vetulani worked as an artistic director at the Silk Factory in Milanówek. Since 1949 he was the director of Central Bureau for Art Exhibitions, newly opened, central national art institution settled in Warsaw. He was stripped of his office in 1954, after refusing to sign up to the Polish United Workers' Party, according to Vetulani's long-time collaborator and friend, Bożena Kowalska.[6] In 1952 he received Gold Cross of Merit.[7]

Since 1953 he taught at the State Visual Arts Gathering in Grodzisk Mazowiecki, an institution led by a painter Edward Kokoszko.[8] Since 1954 until 1955 he was a Head of Documentation of Contemporary Visual Arts Department at The Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences.[9]

A very short man, with a leg defect and with very big hands. He was strong, before World War II he was a champion in swimming. He was extremely clever and charming.

– Art critic, friend and collaborator Bożena Kowalska on Armand Vetulani[6]

He was an author of several works on art history, including a monograph on Wojciech Gerson (1952) and a chapter on realistic painting in the book A History of Polish Art (Dzieje sztuki polskiej, 1984) edited by Bożena Kowalska.

For many years he remained a single. In the late years he married his long-time friend and secretary Barbara. They didn't have children.

References
  1. Picture published by courtesy Barbara Vetulani, Armand Vetulani widow.
  2. "Vetulani Armand" (in Polish). Warsaw Obituaries. 17 January 2013. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
  3. "Frankfurter Auschwitz-Prozess. Vernehmung des Zeugen Eugeniusz Motz" (in German). Fritz Bauer Institut. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
  4. Joanna Kulmowa. "September 14, 2014" (in Polish). Poetycki blog Joanny Kulmowej. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
  5. Joanna Kulmowa (1971). Trzy (in Polish). Iskry.
  6. Krzysztof Kościuczuk. "Bożena Kowalska: Zachęta – początki pracy" (in Polish). Prywatne historie sztuki. Archived from the original on 11 July 2015. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
  7. "Postanowienie Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej z dnia 22 lipca 1952 r. o nadaniu odznaczeń państwowych" (in Polish). Monitor Polski. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  8. "Informacja o Państwowym Ognisku Plastycznym w Grodzisku Mazowieckim" (in Polish). Grodzisk Mazowiecki County. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
  9. "Documentation of Contemporary Visual Arts" (in Polish). The Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
  10. See the list of participants, as noted by Armand Vetulani.
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