politics, Polish Constructivists had sought to use abstraction—applied to functional architecture, furniture design, typography or graphic design—as a radical tool to foster social and political transformation, thus bringing art into the service of the people. In a text from 1924, Stażewski emphasized the important role that abstraction plays in constructing a new, modern society: In 1926, Blok dissolved due to internal conflicts and was followed by Praesens (1926–1929), and later a.r. group (1929–1936), all three of which were critical in defining Polish Constructivism as a movement. As a member of these avant-garde groups, Stażewski made contributions to Polish Constructivism through typography, poster design, theoretical writings (including publications for the Blok magazine published between 1923 and 1926), as well as interior design and furniture design. At Blok, Stażewski had also collaborated with Henryk Berlewi and Szczuka who were considered leading figures in Polish avant-garde typography. Though predominantly idealistic and limited in their actual impact on the Polish post-World War I society, the Constructivists managed to complete some important architectural projects (Praesens, for instance, participated in the design of apartment buildings for the Warsaw Housing Cooperative in the Rakowiec district) and induced the Polish avant-garde, up until then largely autonomous, with a sense of social commitment. In March 1927, Stażewski was among several Polish artists hosting Kazimir Malevich during his trip to Warsaw. He helped organize Malevich's exhibition at Hotel Polonia Palace—first outside of the Soviet Union—and invited the artist to visit his studio. Malevich's Suprematism had served as a crucial point of reference for Russian Constructivists and avant-garde artists across Central and Eastern Europe; he is said to have made a lasting impact on Stażewski in particular, who examined some of the key ideas of Suprematism regarding the autonomy of art and the superiority of non-objective visual forms in regard to his own work. Relationships with European Avant-gardes While working with Constructivist groups in his home country, Stażewski traveled frequently and participated in several international exhibitions throughout the 1920s, including the 1926 Paris Exhibition of Theatrical Art and the Machine Age Exposition in New York in 1927. He had also developed and cultivated relationships with representatives of Western European avant-garde groups, including Theo van Doesburg and Piet Mondrian of the Dutch De Stijl movement, as well as the French painter Albert Gleizes. The influence of De Stijl can be found in Stażewski's work from around that time, including oil paintings titled