W. T. Benda was an artist and illustrator who left behind a legacy closely intertwined with the Kosciuszko Foundation’s own. At the end of his illustrious career Benda returned to themes almost exclusively Polish, infused with an active Slavic spirit and a romantic palette. He was, in effect, artist-in-residence for the Foundation creating its Ex-Libris, promotional graphics and, most notably, the cover designs for the Kosciuszko Foundation Ball Journals.

Initially adhering to specific themes, (A Night in Old Krakow, A Night in the Tatras) Benda set the tone with decorative covers that have become collectors items. A prolific artist who joined the romantic tradition of Polish 19 th century painting with his own exotic sensibility, Benda created works of unparalleled beauty and mystery unique among artists of his period. His output embraced as well the craft of mask making, which he raised to an art form becoming a world recognized authority on this subject. At the Foundation, we refer to him as ‘our Benda’. His ardent belief in the mission of the Kosciuszko Foundation to promote cultural and intellectual exchange between Poland and the United States is evident in the many works that he donated to our permanent collection.

Elizabeth Koszarska-Skrabonja
Curator-in-Residence

The following is a tribute written by the founder of the Kosciuszko Foundation, Stephen P. Mizwa in March of 1949 to introduce the memorial exhibition of W. T. Benda’s works at the Foundation house.

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This memorial exhibition serves as a fitting tribute to the long and distinguished career of the beloved artist, W.T. Benda. Probably more than any other American of Polish descent Benda achieved fame and recognition in the art world. He was an indefatigable worker and his keen and brilliant imagination was continually creating. He was constantly developing new paintings and drawings.

The Benda Masks are probably the best known and most widely remembered of the artists many creative endeavors. At the height of his career as an illustrator and magazine cover artist, Benda became interested in masks. In 1914 he attended a masquerade ball. As a part of his costume he made a mask. He became so intrigued with the possibilities that the masks became more than just a hobby. They developed into a serious new art form in the modern world.

The late Frank Crowninshield visited the Benda studio on Gramercy Park in 1919 and became immediately an enthusiastic and constant supporter of the Benda Masks. He first presented them in ‘Vanity Fair’ the same year. They created such a sensation that publications throughout the world featured them.

The masks were first worn by a group of people at a New Year’s Eve Ball at the home of the late Mr. & Mrs. Charles Goodrich in Llewellyn Park, New Jersey. They were first used for a stage production by the Amateur Comedy Club of New York. They were used in other theatrical performances such as the ‘Greenwich Village Follies’ and C.B. Cochran sent them across Europe and the British Empire with the dancer Grace Christy demonstrating their use. Museums, universities and art schools everywhere exhibited them; they were also featured in some stunning films of the period. Mr. Benda delved studiously into the history of all types of masks and became recognized as the world’s foremost authority preparing the article on the subject for the Encyclopedia Britannica. In 1944 he authored and illustrated a book, Masks published by Watson-Guptill Publications, Inc.

The artist was born in Poznan, Poland, (then under Prussian rule) in 1873, the son of a pianist-composer. After finishing his preparatory studies for a career in engineering there was no opening at the Engineering Institute. While waiting, he attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. The family later moved to Vienna where Benda continued the study of art. In 1899 his father’s sister, actress Helena Modjeska, invited them to California. Benda carried on his painting studies there until he came to New York in 1903. He attended the Art Students league and also Chase’s Art School.

Mr. Benda had been a member of the National Council of the Kosciuszko Foundation from the time of its organization in 1925. He had also been a member of the Players Club, the Society of Mural Painters and was a life member of the Dutch Treat Club, the Coffee House and the Society of Illustrators.

The artist attempted to bring the essence of his subject into the mask. He was constantly in search of a representation of true feminine beauty. In the 1920’s the Benda Girl became a definite type, as the Gibson Girl had been in a preceding period. Whether blond or brunette, smiling or sultry, the Benda beauty was of a Slavic-oriental derivation with long, slanting eyes and high cheek bones. To the general public this type became most widely known through his illustrations and covers for leading magazines as well as pictorial reproductions of the masks themselves.

Of more recent vintage are the masks of movie stars. He felt that future generations would think of them as representative of 20 th Century Beauty. The masks were made from his memories of the stars in their movies. Prior to completion of the Merle Oberon Mask, the actress visited the artist in his studio. Although he did no life work at the time, he was later able to add more of the quality of Miss Oberon’s beauty to the mask.

Many of Benda’s portrait masks are of a more generalized nature. They seek to embody the composite beauty or quality of an entire nation in a single face. In the most extreme masks, Benda became wildly fanciful, creating weird and exotic characters beyond the realm of the average man’s imagination and yet portrayed with entirely convincing realism.

In paying tribute to W.T. Benda the Kosciuszko Foundation, which serves as an American Center for Polish Culture, signalizes the cultural contributions to this country of the ‘new stock’ Americans of Polish ancestry.