Collection

Zofia Rydet is one of the most important Polish photographers, combining ethnographic and sociological research methods with artistic creation. She is the author of the monumental project “Sociological Record”, which is crucial for the history of Polish photography. Rydet is also known as the author of surrealistic collages. The “World of Feelings and Imagination”, created in 1975-1979, is her most mature work of this kind. In the 1970s her work was dominated by surreal motifs – mannequins, gloves, dolls, etc. By means of photographic collages, the artist worked through her war experiences and the fear of a new global cataclysm. To create the series she used the photographs, which she took with a view to use them later in collages, which is what makes her working method unique. These are scenes at flea markets, portraits of Upper Silesia residents, monuments, architectural details, clouds in the sky, trees. The series was published sa a separate album (as a photo book), published by Krajowa Agencja Wydawnicza in 1979. The purchase of the entire group of collages from Zofia Rydet’s heirs, her family who runs the Zofia Rydet Foundation is a consequence of a three-year research and exhibition project on the “Sociological Record”. Rydet, one of the key artists for the Museum of Modern Art, is part of the artistic canon of the 20th century. She has a significant impact on contemporary photography and is a point of reference for future generations of photographers. Incorporating the series “The World of Feelings and Imagination” in the collection makes it possible to reveal a different, more surreal picture of Rydet’s output. This series is one of the iconic works of Polish 20th century photography, corresponding to the works by such artists as Alina Szapocznikow and Andrzej Wróblewski (defragmentation of the body, man and object, war, etc.).