Henryk was the founder of the Polish Poster School. The Dutch newspaper NRC wrote an obituary in which it was said that ‘Poland lost probably his most important post-war artist’, and ‘He taught his people to think.’ Tomaszewski came from a musical family, but chose to abandon his violin. In the harsh Communist period there was only a place for political posters. Henryk: ‘Politics are like the weather: something you have to live with.’ When Stalin died, things became a bit more relaxed. His 1959 poster for a Henry Moore exhibition was an absolute hit. Unequalled simplicity, strong colours and ‘catching the whole story in one image’ were his recipe. Polish posters became an artform in the sixties. The authorities were pleased that they could show their ‘liberal’ attitude towards the arts. He only spoke Polish, his wife was the interpreter for the many (often French) students (later famous themselves), who were attracted by the maestro.