This poster advertised the Polish National Opera's production of Alban Berg's avant-garde opera about ordinary people striving for dignity in the face of abuse and brutality. The psychedelic aesthetic Lenica used to convey psychological torment, like the grating atonality of Berg's music, resonated in an atmosphere of escalating tension within the Communist Bloc. Some fifteen thousand of these posters were printed in Poland, and it soon assumed cult status in Western Europe. It was awarded a Gold Medal at the first Warsaw International Poster Biennale in 1966.

Gallery label from

Polish Posters 1945–89, May 6–November 30, 2009.

Medium Offset lithograph
Dimensions 38 x 26 1/2" (96.5 x 67.3 cm)
Publisher Teatr Wielki, Warsaw
Printer Stołeczne Zaklady Drukarskie, Warsaw
Credit Gift of the designer
Object number 485.1987
Department Architecture & Design

Explore more

All works by Jan Lenica →

From MoMA Design Store

Installation views

We have identified this work in the following photos from our exhibition history.

How we identified these works
In 2018–19, MoMA collaborated with Google Arts & Culture Lab on a project using machine learning to identify artworks in installation photos. That project has concluded, and works are now being identified by MoMA staff.

If you notice an error, please contact us at [email protected].
Licensing
To reproduce installation views, please contact Art Resource (publication in North America) or Scala Archives (publication in all other geographic locations). You will need to include the object identification number found in the caption.
Feedback
This record is a work in progress. If you have additional information or spotted an error, please send feedback to [email protected].

Licensing

Artwork or archival images

If you would like to reproduce an image of a work of art in MoMA's collection, or an image of a MoMA publication or archival material (including installation views, checklists, and press releases), please contact Art Resource (publication in North America) or Scala Archives (publication in all other geographic locations).

Audio and film clips

MoMA licenses archival audio and select out of copyright film clips from our film collection. At this time, MoMA produced video cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. All requests to license archival audio or out of copyright film clips should be addressed to Scala Archives at [email protected]. Motion picture film stills cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. For access to motion picture film stills for research purposes, please contact the Film Study Center at [email protected]. For more information about film loans and our Circulating Film and Video Library, please visit Circulating Film and Video Library.

Text from a publication or the archives

If you would like to reproduce text from a MoMA publication, please email [email protected]. If you would like to publish text from MoMA's archival materials, please fill out this permission form and send to [email protected].

Feedback

This record is a work in progress. If you have additional information or spotted an error, please fill out this feedback form.