Piotr Uklański

Giraud Pissarro Segalot, L.P., New York

Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2005

London, The Photographers' Gallery, The Nazis: Piotr Uklański, August - September 1998 (edition no. unknown)

Warsaw, Zachęta Narodowa Galeria Sztuki, Piotr Uklański: The Nazis, October - December 2000, n.p., illustrated (edition no. unknown)

Tirana, National Gallery & Chinese Pavilion, Tirana Biennale 1: Escape, September - October 2001, p. 437, illustrated in colour (edition no. unknown)

New York, The Jewish Museum, Mirroring Evil: Nazi Imagery/Recent Art, 2002, n.p., no. 5, illustrated in colour (edition no. unknown); pp. 108-09, illustrated (in installation at The Photographers' Gallery, London, 1998) (edition no. unknown); and p. 111, illustrated (in The Face, London, August 1999)

London, Tate Modern; Hamburg, Hamburger Kunsthalle; and Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada, Pop Life: Art in a Material World, October 2009 - September 2010, pp. 164-65, illustrated in colour (edition no. unknown); and p. 165, illustrated in colour (in installation at The Photographers' Gallery, London, 1998) (edition no. unknown)

New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fatal Attraction: Piotr Uklański Photographs, March - August 2015, pp. 56-57, illustrated in colour (edition no. unknown); pp. 58-59, illustrated in colour (in installation at Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2015) (edition no. unknown); and p. 61, illustrated (edition no. unknown)

Peter Lyle, ‘The Reich Stuff’, The Face, London, July 1998, pp. 60-61, no. 118 (text) 

Rob Epstein, ‘Janner's Fears of Nazi Exhibition’, London Jewish News, 17 July 1998, p. 8 (text)

Robin Stringer, ‘Outrage as London Gallery Highlights “Glamour of Nazism”’, Evening Standard, London, 29 July 1998, p. 21 (text)

Stuart Shave, ‘Nice Nazi, Nasty Nazi’, I-D Magazine, London, August 1998, p. 50, no. 178 (text)

Amanda Hopkins, ‘Spiel Mit Dem Nazi-Chic’, Der Spiegel, Hamburg, 3 August 1998, p. 87, no. 32 (text)

Anon., ‘Piotr Uklański: The Nazis’, The Guide, London, 3-9 August 1998, p. 39 (text)

Jonathan Jones, ‘Faces of Evil’, The Guardian, London, 18 August 1998, p. 12 (text)

Neal Ascheron, ‘It's Only David Niven Dressed Up: Why Do We Feel a Chill?’, The Observer, London, 23 August 1998, p. 9 (text)

John Russel Taylor, ‘Nazi Movie Shoots are Defended as Art’, Amateur Photographer, London, 29 August 1998 (text)

Wojciech Orlínski, ‘Ci Przystojni Nazisci’, Gazetta Wyborcza, Warsaw, 31 August 1998, p. 2 (text)

Malcolm Quinn, ‘Reopening Old Wounds’, Blueprint, No. 153, September 1998, p. 74, illustrated (edition no. unknown)

Anon., ‘Espectros Nazis’, Expresso, Lisbon, 19 September 1998, n.p. (text)

Patrick Frey, Ed., Piotr Uklański: The Nazis, Zurich and London 1999, pp. 5-247, illustrated in colour (edition no. unknown)

Piotr Rypson, ‘Disco, Nazisci, I Szklankla Herbaty’, Machina, Warsaw, October 1999, pp. 78-81 (text)

Thomas Wolff, ‘Sie Tun's Alle: The Nazis' Hollywood-Klischees’, Frankfurter Rundschau, 20 October 1999 (text)

Stephan Ramming, ‘Film-Nazis In Der Pop-Hölle’, Die Wochenzeitung, Berlin, 21 October 1999, p. 21 (text)

Michel Masserey, 'Sous leur uniforme lustré, les Nazis de Hollywood vendent des pailettes', Le Temps, Geneva, 29 December 1999, p. 37, illustrated (edition no. unknown)

Anon., 'The Nazis by Piotr Uklański,' New York Arts Magazine, Vol. 5, No. 1, January 2000, p. 79 (text)

Dirk Kurbuweit, ‘Wie Sexy Dürfen Nazis Sein?’, Spiegel Reporter, Hamburg, February 2000, pp. 119-25, no. 2 (text)

Anon., ‘Austellung Zeigt Filmstars in Nazi Uniformen’, Die Welt, Berlin, 29 February 2000, n.p. (text)

Javier Leo Fuentes, ‘Hollywood Y El Nazimo: Vision Critica De Piotr Uklański’, Arts-Zin.Com, Madrid, March - April 2000, n.p. (text)

Susanne Leinemann, ‘Der Filmische Albtraum Vom Nazi’, Die Welt, Berlin, 3 March 2000, n.p. (text)

Anon., ‘Eine Wand Voller Film-Nazis’, Berliner Zeitung, Berlin, 6 March 2000 (text)

Anon., ‘Film Nazis’, Neues Deutschland, Berlin, 10 March 2000 (text)

Anon., ‘Heute In Berlin: “Die Nazis”’, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Munich, 10 March 2000, n.p. (text)

Steven Heller, 'Snazi Nazis', The New York Times Book Review, 12 March 2000, p. 22, illustrated (edition no. unknown)

Anon., ‘Die Nazis’, Tagesspiegel, Berlin, 22 March 2000, n.p. (text)

Anon., ‘The Nazis’, Tageszeitung, Berlin, 22 March 2000, n.p. (text)

Anon., ‘The Nazis’, Taz, Berlin, 22 March 2000, n.p., (text)

Anon., ‘Piotr Uklański: “Die Nazis”’, Art On, Berlin, April 2000, n.p. (text)

Peter Herstreuth, ‘”Die Nazis” Von Piotr Uklański In Den Kunst-Werken’, Kunst-Bulletin, Zurich, May 2000, pp. 43-44 (text)

C. Schneider, ‘Nazi's’, Metropolis M, Amsterdam, June - July 2000, pp. 64-65, no. 3 (text)

Martina Jungfleisch, ‘Monster Und Hollywoodstars’, Filmforum, Berlin, July - August 2000, pp. 28-29 (text)

M. Margielewski, ‘Nazi Fiction’, Ckm, Warsaw, September 2000, pp. 66-68, no. 9 (text)

A. Markiewicz, ‘Nazisci Z Kinowych Ekranów’, Machina, Warsaw, September 2000, p. 25 (text)

Marcin Fedisz, ‘Ci Przystojni Nazisci W Swych Przepieknych Mundarach’, Przzekrój, Warsaw, 3 September 2000, pp. 9-10 (text)

Wojciech Orlinski, ‘Ci Przystojni Nazisci!’, Gazeta Wyborcza, Warsaw, 27 October - 2 November 2000, p. 22 (text)

Anon., ‘Druga Strona: Nazisci’, Zycie, Warsaw, 31 October - 2 November, 2000, p. 2 (text)

Dorota Jarecka, ‘Wystawa 'Nazisci' W Warszawie’, Gazeta Wyborcza, 31 October - 1 November 2000, p. 17 (text)

Agnieszka Maria Wasieczko, ‘The Nazis’, The Warsaw Voice, Warsaw, November 12, 2000, n.p. (text)

Anon., ‘Nazi Movie Exhibition Enrages Actor’, The Guardian, London, 23 November 2000, n.p., (text)

Jan Raszeja, ‘Nazista W. Kadre’, Gazeta Pomorska, Warsaw, 24 November 2000, n.p. (text)

Anon., ‘Exhibit on Nazis Riles Poles: Officials Halt Display of War-Movie Images’, The Dallas Morning News, Dallas, 25 November 2000, n.p. (text)

Anon., ‘Poland Closes Show of Stars in Nazi Uniforms’, The Holland Sentinel, Amsterdam, 26 November 2000, n.p. (text) 

Anon., ‘Actor Attacks Exhibition in Poland’, Artnet.com, New York, November 30, 2000, online (text)

P. Baler, ‘Censure Nazis’, Artealdia.com, San Francisco, December 2000, online (text)

Anon., ‘Galeria “Nazisci”’, Przekrój, Warsaw, 3 December 2000, pp. 17-21 (text)

Anon., The Warsaw Voice, No. 49, 3 December 2000, illustrated in colour on the cover (edition no. unknown)

Anon., ‘Shortcuts: Taking Up Arms Against the Nazis’, The Warsaw Voice, 3 December 2000, n.p., no. 49, illustrated in colour (edition no. unknown)

Iwona A. Czerwinska, ‘Art Scandal: The Final Cut’, The Warsaw Voice, Warsaw, 3 December 2000, p. 5, no. 49, illustrated in colour (edition no. unknown)

Wojtek Kosc, ‘Slashing Out: A Leading Polish Actor and the Minister of Culture Fail to Understand “The Nazis”’, Central Europe Review, Warsaw, 4 December 2000, n.p., no. 4 (text)

M. Trenkler, ‘Säbelhiebe Auf Film-Nazis’, Morgen Welt, Berlin, 8 December 2000

Anon., ‘Naziata’, Nie, Warsaw, 14 December 2000, n.p. (text)

Anon., ‘Nasi Czy Nazi?’, Viva, Warsaw, 18 December 2000, p. 14 (text)

Anon., ‘Nazis Invade Poland’, Britart.com, London, 10 January 2001, n.p. (text)

Massimiliano Gioni, 'Touch Me I'm Sick: Portraits of Power', Flash Art, No. 218, Milan, May - June 2001, pp. 110-11, illustrated in colour (edition no. unknown)

Michael Kimmelman, 'Jewish Museum Show Looks Nazis in the Face and Creates a Fuss', The New York Times, 29 January 2002, p. 2, illustrated (edition no. unknown)

Sarah Boxer, 'Man Behind a Museum Tempest; A Curator Defends His Show Explaining Nazi Imagery', The New York Times, 24 February 2002, p. 8 (text)

Robert Atkins, 'Bringing Nazi Symbols to the Jewish Museum', ARTnews, New York, March 2002, p. 48, illustrated in colour (edition no. unknown)

Kim Levin, ‘Spring Time For Hitler’, The Village Voice, New York, 5 March 2002, n.p., illustrated in colour (edition no. unknown)

Michael Kimmelman, 'Evil, the Nazis and Shock Value', The New York Times, 15 March 2002, p. 33, illustrated (edition no. unknown)

E. Reverter, ‘Art Provocador Sobre L'holocaust’, Avui, Lisbon, 17 March 2002, p. 48 (text)

Leslie Camhi, 'Peering Under the Skin of Monsters', The New York Times, 17 March 2002, p. 36 (text)

Ron Rosenbaum, ‘Mirroring Evil? No, Mirroring Art Theory’, The New Observer, 18 March 2002, p. 11 (text)

Catherine Fox, ‘Jewish Museum Casts Nazi Evil In New Light’, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, Atlanta, 24 March 2002, n.p. (text)

Anon., ‘Art Review: Mirroring Evil: Nazi Imagery/Recent Art’, The Village Voice, New York, 26 March 2002, n.p. (text)

Howard Halle, ‘Empty Mirror: The Jewish Museum's Show of Nazi Imagery in Art Today is No Thing to See’, Time Out, New York, 28 March - 4 April 2002, pp. 8-9 (text)

Jay Michaelson, ‘Mystical Nazi Sex Gods’, Zeek, New York, April 2002, n.p. (text)

Peter Schjeldahl, ‘The Hitler Show’, The New Yorker, 1 April 2002, p. 87 (text)

Anon., 'The Banality of Evil', Flash Art, Milan, May - June 2002, p. 70, illustrated (edition no. unknown)

Linda Nochlin, 'Mirroring Evil: Nazi Imagery/ Recent Art', ArtForum, New York, Summer 2002, pp. 167-68, illustrated in colour (edition no. unknown)

Charles Labelle, 'Mirroring Evil', Frieze, London, June - August 2002, p. 108 (text)

Maurizio Cattelan, Massimiliano Gioni, et al., 'Piotr Uklanski, The Nazis', Charley 02, Dijon, Autumn 2002, n.p. (text)

Kate Bush, 'Once Upon A Time in the East: The Art of Piotr Uklański', ArtForum, November 2002, p. 174, illustrated in colour (edition no. unknown)

Exh. Cat., Basel, Kunsthalle Basel, Piotr Uklański: Earth Wind and Fire, 2004, pp. 122-23, illustrated in colour (in installation at Zachęta Gallery, Warsaw, 2000) (edition no. unknown); and p. 124, illustrated in colour (on the cover of The Warsaw Voice, 3 December 2000) (edition no. unknown)

Exh. Cat., Bremen, Neues Museum Weserburg, After Images: Kunst als soziales Gedächtnis, 2004, p. 61 and p. 95, illustrated (edition no. unknown); and pp. 206-07, illustrated in colour (edition no. unknown)

Stephen C. Feinstein, Ed., Absence/Presence: Critical Essays on the Artistic Memory of the Holocaust, Syracuse 2005, p. 11 (text)

Gene Ray, Terror and the Sublime in Art and Critical Theory From Auschwitz to Hiroshima to September 11, New York 2005, p. 68 (text)

Adam Lindemann, Collecting Contemporary, Cologne 2006, p. 132, illustrated in colour (edition no. unknown)

Michael Bernard-Donals, An Introduction to Holocaust Studies, Upper Saddle River 2006, p. 252 (text)

Dagmar Herzog, Ed., Lessons and Legacies VII: The Holocaust in International Perspective, Evanston 2006, p. 409 (text)

Griselda Pollock and Joyce Zemans, Ed., Museums After Modernism: Strategies of Engagement, London 2007, p. 114 (text)

Kristin Kopp and Joanna Niżyńska, Ed., Germany, Poland and Postmemorial Relations, New York 2012, p. 158, illustrated (in installation at Zachęta Gallery, Warsaw, 2000) (edition no. unknown)

Petra Rau, Our Nazis: Representations of Fascism in Contemporary Literature and Film, Edinburgh 2013, p. 125 (text)

Donna Wingate and Marc Joseph Berg, Eds., Second Languages: Reading Piotr Uklański, Ostfildern 2014, p. 14, illustrated (edition no. unknown); p. 15, illustrated in colour (on the cover of The Warsaw Voice, December 3, 2000) (edition no. unknown); and p. 105, illustrated in colour (in installation at Zachęta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, 2000) (edition no. unknown)

Exh. Cat., Monaco, Grimaldi Forum, ArtLovers: Stories of Art in the Pinault Collection, 2014, p. 125, illustrated in colour (edition no. unknown)

Gisele Regatao, ‘An Ironic Ode to Photography’, WNYC News, 21 March 2015, online, illustrated in colour (in installation at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, March 2015) (edition no. unknown)

Colour: The colour in the catalogue illustration is fairly accurate. Condition: This work is in very good condition. Each image is mounted verso using adhesive to its backing board. Extremely close inspection reveals some faint scuffing and very minor lifting in the corners to some of the prints. Further very close inspection reveals some light surface dirt and adhesive residue in places to a few of the prints.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The Nazis is Piotr Uklnaksi’s most significant work to date. Consisting of 164 closely-cropped photographic portraits of actors playing Nazi characters in twentieth-century cinema, it should be viewed as an encyclopaedic survey of the wildly divergent cinematic interpretations and treatments of the Second World War that have taken place since the event. We are led from the epic to the sentimental; from the heroic to the absurd. Uklanski uses these portraits of actors playing the villains of history not to shed further light on the tragic events of the 1940s, but rather to take a sideways glance at our own society. He examines our reliance on populist film to form emotional and psychological responses to bygone eras, and at Hollywood’s perennial failure to represent the most significant events in mankind’s history with authenticity or accuracy, because of its dependence on top-billing movie stars and the agents of fame. The astounding impact of this work was best summarised, by curator Kate Bush in an Artforum article in 2002: “Here Uklanski proves the power of the spectacle to render meaning not vacuously transparent but endlessly volatile. The passionate, sometimes violent responses provoked by a mere collection of film stills is proof in action of the theory of the spectacle: people tend to believe in the reality of the representation… Just as the Nazis, masters of the spectacle, understood the intimate connection between power and representation, presenting aesthetic displays to compel belief, so Uklanski suggests that art is only a spectre of absorption proposed to the gaze of the spectator, an idea he connotes in the ultrahigh, mirrorlike gloss of his photographs’ surfaces” (Kate Bush, ‘Once Upon A Time in the East: The Art of Piotr Uklanski’, Artforum, November 2002, p. 174). 

Upon close examination, the variance in interpretation between each portrait is astounding. While the propagandist Desperate Journey (1942), starring Errol Flyn and Ronald Reagan, understandably marketed a heroic stand against the threat of Fascism, produced as it was in the year following the United States' declaration of war on Nazi Germany, Jürgen Prochnow, in the highly stylised and avowedly authentic Das Boot (1981) of almost forty years later, represents a German submarine captain completely disillusioned with war. 

Above all, we recognise Uklanski's portraits primarily as actors rather than film characters. Enveloped in this enormous hanging-sculpture collage we are struck by the players who have also been Hans Solo, James Bond and Captain Kirk. This cognitive distinction embodies the conceptual project underlying Uklanski's remarkable work: exaggerated familiarity nullifies the evil that is so endemic to Nazi imagery. In this way Uklanski advances the enquiry of Andy Warhol's infamous replication and multiplication, and echoes that artist's famous comment made in relation to his Death and Disaster series that "when you see a gruesome picture over and over again, it doesn't really have any effect" (Andy Warhol in conversation with Gene Swenson, in: Art News, November 1963, n.p.). The widely reported notoriety of Uklanski's The Nazis has been largely focused on the controversy of explicitly associating Nazi imagery with the glamour and matinee idol good looks of these male stars. Yet much of that commentary omits the many more sophisticated layers of the artist's chosen imagery. For example, a great proportion of the characters depicted are in fact agents of Allied forces impersonating Nazis behind enemy lines; Hollywood etiquette determining that such wholesome icons as Flynn, Reagan, Peck and Eastwood could never really play the bad guy. Certainly those personalities that do typify the essence of Nazi war crimes, such as Ralph Fiennes’ concentration camp commandant or Donald Pleasance as Himmler, incite vivid terror and disgust. However, in the context of Uklanski's work these punctuations of evil more effectively assert the radically variant depictions of history by  cinema, and reinforce the power of the work to invite us to fundamentally re-evaluate the means by which we are informed of the past.