Józef Hecht – prominent creator of modernist printmaking. “Noah's Ark” and “Atlas”

The project aims to popularise the graphic output of Józef Hecht. Nowadays in Poland, the artist has not had any individual exhibition or monographic study covering his work in a comprehensive manner. So far, the only catalogue of his graphic works, entitled “The artist's work: “L'oeuvre gravé”, was published in 1992 by the Musée de l'Estampe de Gravelines in France compiled by D. Tonneau-Ryckelynck and R. Plumart. Only three catalogues from solo exhibitions have been printed. The best compiled of these was the 1985 entry prepared by the Dolan/Maxwell Gallery of American printmaking. Although his prints are in all major museums and libraries around the world, the outstanding modern engraving that Hecht was remains very poorly known in his homeland and abroad.

The result of the project is an album containing a reprint of Hecht's two earliest graphic volumes done in copperplate and originally published in Paris: Noah's Ark (1926) and Atlas (1928). The publication also includes an essay by Katarzyna Kulpińska on Hecht's graphic work and extended commentaries on each of the graphic boards.

The album is a collector's edition, printed with special care on high-quality Arctic Munken Pure Rough paper. The album is co-published by the National Institute of Polish Cultural Heritage Abroad “Polonika”.

Józef Hecht was instrumental in establishing the famous Atelier 17 in Paris, where modern artistic graphic was born. The influence of this atelier did not only extend to Europe but also to the Americas. Through the reprint of Hecht's first two volumes, but also through the publication of albums in three languages, the knowledge of the artist will reach scholars, experts, and lovers of printmaking abroad.