Slavic and East European Visual Materials: Prints

Among the original graphic materials, two artists stand out, both born of Slavic ancestry but spent all their creative years in the West. The Library holds more than 600 etchings by Wenceslas Hollar (1607-1677), a prolific and accomplished graphic artist, who was born in Prague, Kingdom of Bohemia but spent much of his life in England. See also his printed illustrated works, including those published during his life Avla Veneris sive Varietas fœminini sexus..., 1644 and Livre cvrievx contenant la naifue representation des habits des femmes des diuerses parties du monde..., 1662. Daniel Chodowiecki (1726–1801) was born in the city of Gdańsk, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth to a Polish father and a Swiss mother but spent most of his life in Berlin where he became the director of the Berlin Academy of Art. The Library holds 45 of his prints (see also numerous books illustrated by him). 

The Library holds 12 lithographs by Alexander (Aleksandr Ossipowitsch) Orłowski (Polish, 1777-1832)  who was the pioneer of lithography in the Russian Empire. Among other accomplished artists, the Library holds a lithograph Proun 2C, 1919-20 by El Lissitzky (Russian, 1890-1941), a linocut Kneeling figure, 1920 by Josef Čapek (Czech, 1887-1945), and seven prints by Wassily Kandinsky (Russian, 1866–1944). Among the works by Tavík František Šimon aka T. Frantisek Simon (Czech, 1877– 1942) from the first three decades of the 20th century, there are depictions of various places, including the New York Public Library. Works by other accomplished artists present in the NYPL's holdings include those by Jacques Hnizdovsky (Ukrainian American, 1915-1985), Pavlo Kovzhun (Ukrainian, 1882-1939), Anna Mackova (Czech, 1887-1969); Hugo Steiner-Prag (Czech, 1880-1945), and Josef Vachal (Czechoslovakian, 1884-1969). 

Portfolios

• In 1970, Andrew Stasik compiled an Eastern European Prints portfolio which was issued in 100 copies. It includes four printed folio pages of text, ten signed plates, with tissue descriptions, and card page protectors. Prints are done in either color dry point, etching in colors, relief printing, or color intaglio.
• Misticheskiye obrazy voiny (1914) with 14 lithographs by Nataliya Sergevevna Goncharova (Russian, 1881-1962)
• A Portfolio of illustrations to House of Death by Fyodor Dostoevsky was created between 1977 and 1982 by Leonid Lamm (Russian, active United States, 1928–2017).
• In 1926, the Croatian sculptor, architect, and writer Ivan Meštrović (1883–1962) sent a hand-lettered, limited-edition lithographic portfolio of his 21 works. This portfolio is number 18 of 30 copies produced.
• Crna jedra is a collection of 19 linocuts by Edo Murtić (Croatian, 1921–2005) to 19 poems by Vladimir "Vlado" Gotovac (1930–2000). They were created in Los Angeles and Zagreb in 1994/1995 and published in 1995.
• In 2001, the Library received a portfolio of 21 prints by various artists from The Society of Hungarian Etchers (in collaboration with The New York Society of Etchers).
• A portfolio by Max Švabinský (Czech, 1873-1962) Osm leptů a kresby (1911) was also issued in French as Eaux - Fortes et dessins (1911). The Library holds both editions. It includes seven etchings on handmade paper and one mezzotint on Japanese paper.
• A portfolio by John C. Vondrous (Czech, 1884-1974) with six etchings depicting the city of Zlín called Šest leptů ze Zlína (1935).

Below is the list of other Slavic and East European artists whose works are also represented in the NYPL's holdings. The quantities of works by each artist vary from one to several.

• Vilmos Aba-Novák (Hungarian, 1894-1941)
• Adolf J. Alex (Czech, 1896-1957)
• Jirí Anderle (Czech, b. 1936)
• Alexander Porfyrovych Archipenko (Ukrainian, 1887-1964)
• Jüri Arrak (Estonian, 1936–2022) 
• Miroslaw Balka (Polish, born 1958)
• Edmund Bartłomiejczyk (Polish, 1885–1950)
• Elizaveta Merkur'evna Bem (Russian, 1843-1914)
• Gyula Beron (Hungarian, 1885–1971)
• Nick Bervinchak (Ukrainian, 1903-1978)
• František Bílek (Czech, 1872–1941)
• Jiří Bouda (Czech, 1934-2015)
• George Buday (Hungarian, 1907-1990)
• František Burant (Czech, 1924-2001)
• Mykola Butovych (Ukrainian, 1895-1961)
• Yevgeny Ivanovich Charushin (Russian, 1901–1965)
• Konstantin Chmutin (Russian)
• Agnieszka Cieślińska (Polish, b. 1964)
• Menci Clement Crnčić (Croatian, 1865-1930)
• Suzanne Cseke (Hungarian)
• Béla Czóbel (Hungarian, 1883–1976)
• Menci Clement Crnčić (Croatian, 1865–1930)
• Lilya Pavlovic Dear (Franco-American artist born in former Yugoslavia, b. 1947)
• Riko Debenjak (Slovenian, 1908-1987)
• Mstislav Valerianovich Dobuzhinsky aka Mstislavas Dobužinskis (Russian/Lithuanian, 1875-1957)
• Aleksandar Duravcevic (born in Montenegro, 1970) 
• Bedřich/Friedrich Feigl (Czech, 1885-1965)
• Traian Alexandru Filip (Romanian, 1955-1993)
• V. Fominsky
• Jacek Gaj (Polish, 1938-2021) 
• Biserka Gall (Croatian, 1942-2002)
• Józef Gielniak (Polish, 1932-1972)
• Milenko D. Gjuric (Croatian, 1849–1945)
• Wiktoria Julia Jadwiga Goryńska (1902–1945) 
• Gustav Gwozdecki (Polish, 1880-1935) 
• Joseph Hecht (Polish, 1891-1951)
• B. Hnatek (Czech)
• Josef Hodek (Czech, 1888-1973)
• Vlastislav Hofman (Czech, 1884-1964)
• Emil Holárek  (Czech, 1867-1919)
• George Sviatoslav Hordynsky (Ukrainian, 1906-1993)
• Ivan Ivanov
• Feliks Stanisław Jasiński (Polish, 1862-1901)
• Božidar Jakac (Slovene, 1899–1989)
• Stanislaw Jakubowski (Polish, 1885-1964)
• Miloš Jiránek (Czech, 1875-1911)
• Jiří John (Czech, 1923-1972)
• Vytautas Kazimieras Jonynas (Lithuanian, 1907-1997)
• Jakovits József (Hungarian, 1909–1994)
• Anatoli Lvovich Kaplan (Russian, 1902–1980) 
• Boško Karanović (Serbian, 1924–2009)
• Moissey Kogan (Bessarabian, 1879–1943)
• K.A. Klementeva
• Yuri Kokoyanin (Russian, b. 1948)
• Jan Konůpek (Czech, 1883-1950)
• Jani Konstantinovski Puntos (Polish)
• Jovan Kratohvil (Serbian, 1924–1998)
• Jenõ Krón (Slovak, active in Hungary, 1882-1974)
• Oldřich Kulhánek (Czech, 1940–2013) 
• Tadeusz Kulisiewicz (Polish, 1899-1988)
• František Kupka (Czech, 1871-1957)
• Ludomila Langzanka
• Władysław Lam (Polish, 1893-1984)
• Richard Lauda (Czech, 1873-1929)
• Myron Levytsky (Ukrainian, 1913-1993)
• Karin Luts-Arumaa (Estonian, 1904–1993)
• Petyo Marinov (Bulgarina, b. 1950)
• Halyna Mazepa aka Halyna Mazepa de Koval (Ukrainian, 1910–1995)
• Laszlo Medgyesy (Hungarian)
• Nikolai Semionovich Mosolov aka N. Massaloff (Russian, 1846-1914)
• Stefan Mrożewski (Polish, 1894-1975)
• N. N. Nagorsky
• Laura Negrescu (Romanian, active 20th century)
• Antoni Oleszczyński (Polish, 1794-1879) 
• Stanisław Ostoja-Chrostowski (Polish, 1900–1947)
• Adrian Paci (Albanian, born 1969)
• Ivan Ivanovych Padalka (Ukrainian, 1894-1937)
• Joseph A. Pecsenke (Hungarian, active in the United States, 1942 – 1989)
• Antonín Pelc (Czech, 1895-1967)
• Dmitri Plavinsky (Russian, 1937-2012)
• Eva Pokorny (Czech, b. 1949)
• Nikolai Popov (Russian, b. 1938)
• Valentin Popov (Ukrainian, b. 1956)
• Vojtěch Preissig (Czech, 1873-1944)
• Lubomír Přibyl (Czech, b. 1937)
• Martin Ferdinand Quadal aka Chvátal (Czech, 1736–1811)
• Francis Revesz-Ferryman (Hungarian, 1893-1983)
• József Rippl-Rónai (1861–1927)
• Eduard Rüga (Estonian, 1903-1997)
• Stanisław Rzepa (Polish, 1906-1993)
• Jan Sawka (Polish-born American artist, 1946-2012)
• Vladimir Shilovsky (Russian, 1852-1893)
• Kemal Sirbegovic (Bosnian, b. 1939).
• Wladyslaw Skoczylas (Polish, 1883-1934)
• Gavriil Ivanovich Skorodumov (Russian, 1755–1792) 
• Koloman Sokol (Slovak, 1902-2003)
• Michał Sokolnicki (Polish, 1760–1816) 
• Aron Soloveichik (Russian, b. 1901)
• Yurii Solovii aka Jurij Solovij (Ukrainian, 1921-2007)
• Pravoslav Sovák (Czech, active in Switzerland, 1926–2022)
• Lojze Spacal (Slovene, 1907-2000)
• Serge Spitzer (Romanian, 1951-2012)
• Mladen Srbinovic (Serbian, 1925–2009) 
• Zora Staack (Yugoslavian, active in France, 1910 - 2001)
• Petr Nikolayevich Staronosov (Russian, 1893 - 1942)
• Vesselin Stoykov (Bulgarian)
• Viktor Stretti, born Vítězslav Otakar Stretti (Czech, 1878-1957)
• Jaromír Stretti-Zamponi (Czech, 1882-1959) 
• Karel Svolinský (Czech, 1896– 1986)
• István Szőnyi (Hungarian, 1894-1960)
• Břetislav Štorm (Czech, 1907-1960)
• Jan Tarasin (Polish, 1926-2009)
• Hermann Talvik (Estonian, 1906-1984)
• Wanda Telakowska (Polish, 1905–1986)
• Demian Utenkov (Russian, b. 1948).
• Agaate Veeber (Estonian, 1901-1988)
• Georgy Vereysky (Russian, 1886-1962)
• Romas Viesulas (Lithuanian American, 1918-1986)
• Arno Vihalemm (Estonian, 1911-1990)
• Zygmunt Vogel (Polish, 1764-1826)
• Lazar Vujaklija (Serbian, 1914-1995)
• Erzsébet Aszódi Weil (Hungarian, 1901-1976)
• Eduard Wiiralt (Estonian, 1898-1954)
• Adam Wsiołkowski (Polish, b. 1949)
• Jan Jerzy Wroniecki (Polish, 1890-1948)
• Ádám Würtz (Hungarian, 1927-1994)
• Ossip Zadkine (Rusisan, 1890-1967)
•  Vasil Zahariev (Bulgarian, 1895 - 1971) 
• Alexander Zakharov (Russian, b. 1960)
• Sergei Zalshupin (Russian, 1898–1931)
• Marek Żuławski (Polish, 1908–1985)

Other holdings of interest

• Nineteenth-century 19th-century Russian popular prints, called lubki (call mark MEWG)
• Bookplates by various Ukrainian artists (call mark. MEWG)

The Print Collection's Portrait files also contain works depicting individuals of Slavic and East European descent. For example:

• Sigmund kunig zu Poln [Sigismund I the Old of Poland], ca. 1515-1559 print by Hieronymus Andreä (German, active early 16th century) (Printmaker), Jörg Kölderer (German, died 1540) (Designer), Johannes Stabius (ca. 1460-1522) (Designer)
• [The Coronation of Matthias, King of Hungary, 1608], ca. 1608 etching, Johann Holtzmüller (German, active 17th century) (Printmaker)

Johann Zacharias Frey (1769-1829) was an Austrian-born engraver and painter who spent most of his career in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and depicted various places in this country. See also a 1692 color etching by an anonymous artist Wundergesicht an dem Lufft und auf Erden zu Fünffkirchen in Ungarn den 20. Februarij Anno 1692 [Strange Apparitions in the Sky over Fünfkirchen [present-day Pécs] in Hungary, February 20, 1692].