Editing Tadeusz Kantor

{{Short description|Polish painter (1915–1990)}}
{{Infobox person
| image         = Tadeusz_kantor_17.jpg
| caption       = Tadeusz Kantor
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1915|04|06|df=yes}}
| birth_place   = [[Wielopole Skrzyńskie]], [[Austria-Hungary]]
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1990|12|08|1915|04|06|df=yes}} 
| death_place   = [[Kraków]], [[Poland]]
| nationality   = [[Poland|Polish]]
| other_names   = 
| occupation    = Theatre director, artist
| years_active  =
| known_for     = 
| notable_works = ''Dead Class''; ''Wielopole, Wielopole''
}}

'''Tadeusz Kantor''' (6 April 1915&nbsp;– 8 December 1990) was a Polish [[Painting|painter]], [[Assemblage (art)|assemblage]] and [[Happenings]] artist, set designer and [[theatre director]]. Kantor is renowned for his revolutionary theatrical performances in Poland and abroad. Laureate of [[Theatre of Poland#Witkacy Prize|Witkacy Prize – Critics' Circle Award]] (1989).

== Life and career ==
Kantor was born to Marian Kantor-Mirski and Helena Berger. His family were staunch Catholics. His mother was related to composer and conductor [[Krzysztof Penderecki]], through her German father. Born in [[Wielopole Skrzyńskie]], [[Galicia (Central Europe)|Galicia]] (then in [[Austria-Hungary]], now in [[Poland]]), Kantor graduated from the [[Cracow Academy]] in 1939. During the [[Nazi occupation of Poland]], he founded the Independent Theatre, and served as a professor at the [[Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków]] as well as a director of experimental theatre in [[Kraków]] from 1942 to 1944.  After the war, he became known for his [[avant-garde]] work in stage design including designs for ''[[Saint Joan (play)|Saint Joan]]'' (1956) and ''[[Measure for Measure]]'' (1956). Specific examples of such changes to standard theatre were stages that extended out into the audience, and the use of [[mannequins]] instead of real-life actors.

In 1955, with a group of visual artists disenchanted with the growing institutionalization of avant-garde, he formed a new theatre ensemble called [[Cricot 2]]. In the 1960s, Cricot 2 gave performances in many theatres in Poland and abroad, gaining recognition for their stage ''happenings''.  His interest was mainly with the [[absurdism|absurdist]]s and Polish writer and playwright [[Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz]] (also known as "Witkacy").  Stage productions of Witkacy's plays ''The Cuttlefish'' (1956) and ''The Water Hen'' (1969) were regarded as his best achievements during this time. A 1972 performance of ''The Water Hen'' was described as "the least-publicised, most talked-about event at the [[Edinburgh festival]]".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ellis |first1=Samantha |title=Water Hen, Edinburgh, August 1972 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2003/aug/13/theatre |accessdate=10 May 2020 |work=The Guardian |date=13 August 2003}}</ref>

[[Image:Popiersie Tadeusz Kantor ssj 20060914.jpg|thumb|Tadeusz Kantor, commemorative bust by [[Kornel Arciszewski]]]]
[[File:Krzeslo Kantora - sculpture.jpg|thumb|Tadeusz Kantor, ''Kantor's chair'', concrete sculpture, height 14 m. [[Hucisko, Wieliczka County|Hucisko]], Poland]]
''Dead Class'' (1975) was the most famous of his theatre pieces of the 1970s.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Czerska |first1=Karolina |title=The Dead Class – Tadeusz Kantor |url=https://culture.pl/en/work/the-dead-class-tadeusz-kantor |website=culture.pl |accessdate=10 May 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Romanska |first1=Magda |title=The Post-traumatic Theatre of Grotowski and Kantor |date=2012 |publisher=Anthem Press |page=201 |doi=10.7135/UPO9780857285263.029 |isbn=978-0-85728-516-4 |url=https://doi.org/10.7135/UPO9780857285263.029 |accessdate=10 May 2020}}</ref>  A TV-Movie of the production was made in 1977, directed by [[Andrzej Wajda]].<ref>{{IMDb title|176266|Dead Class (TV Movie 1977)}}</ref> In that play, Kantor himself played the role of a teacher who presided over a class of apparently dead characters who are confronted by mannequins representing the characters' younger selves. He had begun experimenting with the juxtaposition of mannequins and live actors in the 1950s.

His later works of the 1980s were very personal reflections.  As in ''Dead Class'', he would sometimes represent himself on stage. In the 1990s, his works became well known in the [[United States]] due to presentations at [[Ellen Stewart]]'s [[La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club]].

Throughout his life, Kantor had an interested and unique relationship with [[Jewish culture]]. Despite being a nominal Catholic, Kantor incorporated many elements of what was known as "[[Jewish theatre]]" into his works.

Kantor died in Kraków.

The new Centre for the Documentation of the Art of Tadeusz Kantor,  {{ill|Cricoteka|pl}} was opened in Krakow in 2014.

== Major manifestos and writing ==

*''The Autonomous Theatre'' (1963)
*''Theatre Happening: The Theatre of Events'' (1967)
*''The Informel Theatre'' (1961)
*''The Zero Theatre'' (1963)
*''The Theatre of Death'' (1975)

== Productions with Cricot 2 ==

*''The Cuttlefish'' (1956)
*''The Country House'' (1961)
*''The Madman and the Nun'' (1963)
*''The Water Hen'' (1965)
*''Dainty Shapes and Hairy Apes, or the Green Pill'' (1972)
*''The Dead Class'' (1975)
*''Wielopole, Wielopole'' (1981)
*''Let the Artists Die'' (1985)
*''Macchina dell'amore e della morte'' (1987)
*''I Shall Never Return'' (1989)
*''Today is my Birthday'' (1990)

== See also ==
* [[Culture of Kraków]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* Kobialka, Michal, ed and trans. "A Journey Through Other Spaces: Essays and Manifestos, 1944–1990." Publisher: University of California Press, 1993. {{ISBN|0-520-08423-3}}
* Kobialka, Michal, Author, ed and trans. "Further on, Nothing: Tadeusz Kantor's Theatre." Publisher: University of Minnesota Press, 2009. {{ISBN|978-0-8166-5481-9}}
* [[Edwin Wilson (theater critic)|Wilson, Edwin]]. [[Goldfarb, Alvin]]. ''Living Theatre: A History''. Publisher: McGraw-Hill, 4th edition. August 5, 2003. {{ISBN|0-07-256257-9}}
* Krzysztof Pleśniarowicz, Kantor. Artysta końca wieku, Wrocław 1997.
* Pleśniarowicz, Krzysztof, Author, Brand, William trans. "The Dead Memory Machine. Tadeusz Kantor's Theatre of Death", Publisher: Black Mountain Press. Centre for Performance Research, Aberystwyth, 2004 {{ISBN|1-902867-04-1}}

== External links ==
{{commons category-inline}}
* [https://culture.pl/en/artist/tadeusz-kantor Tadeusz Kantor] at culture.pl 
* [http://www.cricoteka.pl/pl/en/ Cricoteka] The Centre For the Documentation of the Art of Tadeusz Kantor
* [http://kantorfoundation.pl Tadeusz Kantor Foundation]
* [http://malarze.com/artysta.php?id=78 Kantor's gallery at malarze.com]
* [https://culture.pl/en/event/the-water-hen-kantor-demarco-and-the-edinburgh-festival The Water Hen: Kantor, Demarco and the Edinburgh Festival at Culture.pl]
* [https://www.royalscottishacademy.org/exhibitions/the-water-hen-kantor-demarco-and-the-edinburgh-festival/ Images from “THE WATER HEN”] at The Royal Scottish Academy of Art & Architecture
* {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061025145557/http://www.blinkred.com/gallery/static/da_kantor01.asp |date=October 25, 2006 |title=Demarco European Art Foundation }} images of Edinburgh performances by Tadeusz Kantor
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070929201945/http://www.magicotheatre.com/kantor.html In Search of Kantor] Details of show being performed in Edinburgh 2007 based on Kantor
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090828010623/http://www.cricoteka.pl/en/main.php?d=teatr Cricot 2's website]
* [http://www.artsignaturedictionary.com/artist.php?id=855 Art Signature Dictionary, genuine signature by the artist Tadeusz Kantor] Here are several dated examples of Tadeusz Kantor signature.
* [https://culture.pl/en/artist/tadeusz-kantor TADEUSZ KANTOR YEAR 2015]

{{Authority control}}

{{Witkacy Prize - Critics' Circle Award}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kantor, Tadeusz}}
[[Category:1915 births]]
[[Category:1990 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Ropczyce-Sędziszów County]]
[[Category:20th-century Polish painters]]
[[Category:20th-century Polish male artists]]
[[Category:Polish theatre directors]]
[[Category:Modernist theatre]]
[[Category:Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany]]
[[Category:Burials at Rakowicki Cemetery]]
[[Category:Theatre practitioners]]
[[Category:Assemblage artists]]
[[Category:Polish contemporary artists]]
[[Category:Polish male painters]]
[[Category:Postmodern theatre]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Medal of the 10th Anniversary of the People's Republic of Poland]]