Franciszek Starowieyski (1930–2009), Bust of a Man [Szablowski] in Baroque Costume/Armor [FRANCISZEK STAROWIEYSKI - POLAND - 20TH CENTURY - BAROQUE - DRAWING - PENCIL - WHITE INK - POLISH POSTER SCHOOL - FANTASMAGORIE]

Pencil and white ink on paper.
Dimensions of the drawing: 29.5 × 21 cm.
Passe-partout dimensions: 40 × 30 cm.
The composition depicts a man seen in profile, facing left, with distinctive, slightly exaggerated facial features: a prominent nose, a receding hairline, and a strongly defined ear. The figure is clad in a fantastical costume or historical armor. The high collar and elaborate shoulder guards are constructed from an arrangement of overlapping strips, scales, latticework, and circular elements resembling mechanical parts.
The silhouette is built up with energetic, repeated pencil strokes. Dense hatching models the face, costume, and background, while white ink is used to highlight selected highlights and details. Behind the head, loose, spiral, and radiating lines are visible, lending the composition movement and an ornamental-grotesque character. The protagonist’s monumental pose is juxtaposed with a caricatured treatment of his facial features—a technique typical of Starowieyski’s fantastical imagination, which blends inspirations from the Baroque, historical costume, anatomy, and mechanical forms. The artist’s signature, “SZABLOWSKI,” appears at the bottom.
In the lower right corner is a circular seal featuring the artist’s interlaced monogram and the inscription in the border:
“From the drawings of Franciszek Starowieyski.”
Similar seals appear on works from the artist’s estate and collection of drawings. Auction houses describe them as seals featuring a facsimile of Starowieyski’s intertwined monogram. The seal itself documents the work’s provenance from his collection of drawings; however, it is not equivalent to a separate certificate of authenticity issued by the artist’s family.
Franciszek Andrzej Bobola Biberstein-Starowieyski, who also used the pseudonym Jan Byk (Bratkówka near Krosno, July 8, 1930 – Warsaw, February 23, 2009), was a Polish draftsman, painter, printmaker, poster artist, illustrator, calligrapher, and set designer. He came from a noble family bearing the Biberstein coat of arms. From 1949 to 1952, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków under Wojciech Weiss and Adam Marczyński, then continued his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, where he earned his diploma in 1955 in Michał Bylina’s studio.
From the 1960s onward, he was one of the leading representatives of the Polish school of poster art. He created film and theater posters, book illustrations, set designs, and elaborate drawing compositions. His art was distinguished by his mastery of line, a fascination with 17th-century culture, Baroque theatricality, the grotesque, and the fusion of anatomical forms with plant, animal, and mechanical elements. The artist produced approximately three hundred posters, working for many years alternately in Warsaw and Paris.
Starting in 1980, he organized his own “Drawing Theaters”—public, multi-day creative performances during which monumental compositions were created before the audience’s eyes. An essential part of his artistic self-creation was his symbolic identification with a 17th-century ancestor; for this reason, he often dated his works, setting the actual date of their creation back three hundred years.
Drawing framed with a red passe-partout.
Condition: as shown in the photos.