Translating Marek

Marek Zulawski: artist, journalist, my father

Romance at the outbreak of World War II: meeting Halina Korn

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Halina Korn (born Halina Korngold) was Marek’s second wife, and a respected painter and writer in her own right. They were married for decades until her death on 2 October 1978 – precisely 36 years ago today. Other parts of Study for a Self-Portrait delve into the darker parts of their relationship, particularly Halina’s depression, but I thought I’d introduce her with this lively country-hopping section that includes how she and Marek first met. I particularly like the part about their life in London during the Battle of Britain. – AZ

It was autumn 1938. Yes, a year before the war.… Keep reading

How Marek ended up living in London in 1936

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Life is chaos. It’s a cacophony upon which we try to impose a sense of order, often for the sake of our own sanity.

When I read the excerpt below, I was unsurprised to find my father had ended up a Londoner by accident, not design. It was through another series of accidents that he met my mother, that I was born in London and that now I’m writing these very words.

Some people struggle to accept that we primates stumble through existence. They insist that everything is controlled and planned out. One of the gloomier versions of this type of worldview is that everything is manipulated by some shadowy ill-meaning cabal, often labelled as the Illuminati or New World Order.

… Keep reading

Malevich and the birth of Minimalism, 1975

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I visited the impressive Malevich retrospective at the Tate Modern recently, and thought I’d see if Marek had a few words on the man. I found this dense extract which talks about Malevich’s role in the minimalism of modern art. The gallery visit he describes near the end left me with the distinct impression he’d be shaking his head at a lot of today’s art were he still alive… – AZ

There is no doubt that, independent from art as a deliberate activity of man, there exist artistic phenomena which move us with their monumental simplicity. The desert, oceans, ploughed fields, steppes, the heavens and earth.… Keep reading

The prophecies of Jerzy Zulawski, Poland’s HG Wells, 1969

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In this excerpt, Marek writes about his father, the science-fiction author Jerzy Zulawski, after watching one of the most famous televised moments of the 20th century: the first man on the moon (it was Neil Armstrong, fact fans). I’ve done a partial translation of On The Silver Globe but Jerzy’s books have never been published in English.

What English readers can see though is the anarchic film adaptation that Andrzej Zulawski directed based on the first two parts. It’s one of the most ‘out there’ films you might see and has a fascinating story behind it too. – AZ.

Today, the 21st of July 1969, man has put his foot on the Moon for the first time.… Keep reading

Jesus in St John’s Wood, 1980

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‘The Baptism of Jesus Christ’ is a massive painting by Marek in Our Lady’s Church on Lisson Grove in St John’s Wood. This memoir entry from 1980 is about my dad’s initial talks with Father McGowan to get the project going. The painting was completed in 1982, just three years before his death, and it’s still there today. Although my dad wasn’t around for most of my upbringing, Our Lady’s Church was a regular feature – I always looked up at that painting and thought of him whenever I had to attend. – AZ

I’m waiting to hear the decision on an important matter for me, very important indeed.… Keep reading

Lady troubles in Ladbroke Grove, 1937

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I think my dad wrote this part in the 1970s, so perhaps those 40-odd years made it more melodramatic in his memories than it really was. He mentions his local was The Mitre which is right at the bottom of Ladbroke Grove – these days, that’s considered more a part of Holland Park. A lot of this part of west London was much rougher before WWII, particularly Notting Hill, but these days it’s all pretty fancy. – AZ

It was 1937. I, a young artist who’d recently been abandoned by his wife, had been milling around in the horrible emptiness of my studio in Ladbroke Grove.… Keep reading