The Pedigree of the New Constitution / Rodowód nowej konstytucji (1952)

On January 27, 1952, the draft Constitution of the People’s Republic of Poland was announced. The history of over a hundred years of popular struggle is illustrated by paintings, from Artur Grottger to contemporary artists of socialist realism. On January 27, 1952 the project of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of Poland was announced. The reader recalls the history of the people’s struggle for independence, the abolition of serfdom and class society. Over a hundred years of events are illustrated with paintings, prints and graphics, from Arthur Grottger’s The March to Siberia to Włodzimierz Zakrzewski’s Comrade Bierut Among the Workers (1950). Among historical figures, Hugo Kołłątaj, Stanisław Staszic, Tadeusz Kościuszko, known as the chief in a peasant’s dress, Edward Dembowski, the red castellan, the leader of the Cracow Uprising, and the fighters of the Paris Commune, such as Jarosław Dąbrowski and Walery Wróblewski, were distinguished. The ideals of freedom were recorded in poetry by the national bards: Adam Mickiewicz and Juliusz Słowacki. Among the paintings of revolutionary classics cited are Strajk / Strike (1910) by Stanisław Lentz, Proletariatczycy / Proletarians (1948) by Feliks Szczęsny Kowarski, and Defending the Barricade with the SDKPiL Banner (1955).