Pamiętnik Sztuk Pięknych / Fine Arts Diary

Spis treści / Table of contents

2023-11-08T11:20:07+01:00

Antyk w polskiej sztuce i kulturze artystycznej w XX i na początku XXI wieku / Antiquity in Polish art and artistic culture from the end o

2023-11-08T11:29:57+01:00

Motywy klasycyzujące w architekturze polskiej początku XX wieku – nurty i odmiany

2023-11-08T11:41:53+01:00

Classicising motifs in Polish architecture at the beginning of the 20th century: currents and variants

At the start of the 20th century an intensive search took place for new solutions in European architecture, in a variety of directions. There was an increasing tendency towards limiting and eventually eliminating detail and applying simplified, geometric forms, together with the widespread use of new constructional solutions, chiefly reinforced concrete techniques. The result was the emergence between the years 1905 and 1914 of a modernist current, which may be described by the term “early modernism”. One of the significant currents at this time was a return to forms having a classical ancestry, which restored to architecture aspects of simplicity, dignity, logic and objectivity, described by the term neoclassicism. This current made its distinctive presence felt in Polish lands, while assuming a specific character.
Classical motifs accompanied innovative works using reinforced concrete construction, as well as structures more traditional in form, intended for public use, sacral buildings, and residential blocks. The style known as “circa 1800”, of German origin and applied in certain Polish regions, likewise made reference to classical solutions, as did the “manor house style”, which belonged to the current of the search for national forms. Neoclassicism also continued to be applied after the First World War.

Motywy antyczne niedostrzegane? „Antykizujące” godła międzywojennych krakowskich kamienic a „klasyczne” motywy w polskim malarstwie i grafice lat 20. i 30. XX wieku

2023-11-08T11:49:28+01:00

Unnoticed ancient motifs? : “antiquitising” emblems on interwar town houses in Kraków and “classical” motifs in Polish paintings and graphics of the 1920s and 1930s

This article discusses sculptural visual signs placed as emblems on the facades of town houses and institutional buildings in Kraków. These emblems had appeared in the city as early as the Middle Ages and since then have been a characteristic element of both the interior and exterior design of buildings. Various artistic signs in the form of sculptural decorations identified certain buildings in the Old City. In the 20th century, however, they served to decorate buildings instead. The fashion for placing emblems on the facades of houses returned to Kraków in the interwar period, thanks to local artists and architects, at a time of intensives urban development in the city. These activities were even regulated by special municipal and state ordinances. Among the numerous emblems of legendary, religious, genre and animal themes, one can distinguish a certain group of artistic signs with an antiquitising character. These represent mythological, symbolic and allegorical figures such as Greek deities, satyrs, centaurs, dragons and putti, as well as idyllic themes. Some of these were created by famous Krakow sculptors, both traditional and avant-garde, such as Karol Muszkiet, Franciszek Kalfas and Henryk Wiciński, as well as by graduates of the local Academy of Fine Arts. These works were inspired by contemporary paintings and graphics, and, above all, by the prevailing aesthetics of Art Deco. The noticeable influence of the decorative art of the Warsaw group “Rhythm”, active during the years 1922–1932, is of particular importance in this case. The creators of these carved emblems interpreted traditional themes and iconographic solutions present in European art and deriving from Antiquity.

W poszukiwaniu porządku. Idea nowego klasycyzmu Aristide’a Maillola a polscy rzeźbiarze

2023-11-08T12:27:53+01:00

In pursuit of order: the idea of the new classicism of Aristide Maillol and Polish sculptors

As Maurice Denis observed in as early as 1909, the trend towards a new classicism, subsequently labelled the rappel à l’ordre or retourne à l’ordre, embodied, as many contemporary critics emphasised, a yearning for logic, compact construction, as well as an expression of a general desire for stability occasioned by the experience of war, and the classical tradition offered a haven of moderate peace and order. Such tendencies were also stimulated by research undertaken by eminent humanists and increasing activity in the field of archaeology dating from the turn of the century. This was also an era of inordinate fragmentation of form and rough, shattered surface in the field of global sculpture, despite the lessons taught by Rodin. Tectonics and monumentality, the essence of sculpture, now became paramount. Compact, static forms, a balance of masses, a sense of proportion, frugal modelling, simplified means of expression, carefully executed detailing and tasteful form – these became the features of sculptures which, beginning with the work of Aristide Maillol, can also be regarded as characteristic of Polish sculptors at the start of the 20th century. The work of Maillol occupied an important position in the consciousness of Polish artistic circles and was a major source of influence. Polish sculptors such as Henryk Kuna (1879–1945), Edward Wittig (1879–1941) and August Zamoyski (1893–1970) found inspiration in the work of Maillol, which consequently influenced the direction in which their own work developed. Elie Nadelman (1882–1946), one of the leading representatives of the new classicism in sculpture, also found himself within the orbit of this tendency. Nadelman believed that “art is harmony”, and referred to the art of Antiquity, since it was there that he found the ideal towards which he was striving – that of logic in the construction of forms. Making use of forms deriving from Antiquity, he was able to create sculptures that were modern in their expression.The work of Maillol was the subject of analysis by art critics including Waldemar George and Adolf Basler, both of whom came from Poland and exerted a great influence upon Polish artists. George was a proponent of the new classicism and the author of the first monograph on Maillol. The present text discusses how the work of Aristide Maillol and the idea of the new classicism influenced formal and aesthetic investigations in works by Polish sculptors.

Antyk Dunikowskiego. Problematyka wpływu tradycji antycznej w kontekście Autoportretu. Idę ku Słońcu (1917–1920)

2023-11-09T11:36:41+01:00

The Antiquity of Dunikowski: the problem of the influence of traditional Antiquity in the context of Self-Portrait: I Am Walking Towards the Sun (1917/1920)

The article analyzes a previously unrecognized allusion in the work Self-Portrait: I Am Walking Towards the Sun (1917/1920) by Xawery Dunikowski to the famous Hellenistic sculpture Laocoön and His Sons. It shows how a convergence of public and private concerns drove Dunikowski to conceive a vision of an artist-prophet that relies on an almost self-contradictory combination of archaic and Hellenistic compositional and formal means. The article argues that this apparent lack of unity may be the effect of a complicated, universalist conception of art and history that Dunikowski sought to develop within his work, as well as of profound uncertainty with regard to his conception of modern art. It also argues against a typically hermetic interpretation of the work, showing how it can be seen as an extension of the sculptor‘s ambition to become a public, monumental sculptor of modern Poland. The article is rooted methodologically in the concepts developed by Elizabeth Prettejohn in her books Modernity of Ancient Sculpture (2012) and Modern Painters, Old Masters (2017).

Inspiracje antykiem i nowy klasycyzm w twórczości Tymona Niesiołowskiego

2023-11-09T11:57:35+01:00

Antique inspirations and new classicism in the works of Tymon Niesiołowski

Tymon Niesiołowski (1882–1965) belonged to the generation of artists born in the 1880s. Following his graduation from the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, he became involved with artistic circles in Kraków-Zakopane, and subsequently in Wilno [Vilnius] and Toruń, successively joining the groups Grupa Pięciu [Group of Five] (1905–1908), Formiści [Formists] (1917–1922), Rytm [Rhythm] (1922–1932), Wileńskie Towarzystwo Artystów Plastyków [Wilno Society of Visual Artists] (1927–1933) and Grupa Toruńska [Toruń Group] (1958–1965).The artist’s style evolved from a Young Poland fascination with Stanisław Wyspiański, thanks to whom he introduced antique motifs to his work by means of references to Pierre Puvis de Chavannes. Working with the Formists, Niesiołowski represented their moderate wing, emphasizing classical thematic and formal currents that perfectly fit the trend of the return to order (New Classicism), characteristic of the Rytm Association of Polish Artists and the Wileńskie Towarzystwo Artystów Plastyków. The artist’s paintings from the interwar period reveal a skilful fusion of modernity and tradition. This tendency is visible in numerous figural compositions, his so-called bathers referring to the Arcadian myth, and his single figures in costume referring to Antiquity. The inspiration of Antiquity returned in the last decades of the artist’s work, the best example of which is his polychrome design for the frieze for the foyer of the Theater in Bydgoszcz, inspired by the literature of Antiquity.

Konkurs na pomnik Księcia Witolda. Niezrealizowany projekt Ludomira Sleńdzińskiego w duchu nowego klasycyzmu

2023-11-09T15:16:13+01:00

The competition for a monument to Prince Witold / Vytautas in Wilno / Vilnius: Ludomir Sleńdzinski’s unrealized project in the spirit of new classicism

The article presents hitherto unpublished research on the competition for the design of a monument to Prince Witold / Vytautas, which was to be erected in the square next to the Cathedral in Wilno / Vilnius. The initiative to erect the monument was organized on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the death of the brother of King Władysław Jagiełło in 1930. Although information on Sleńdziński’s project and its artistic value has appeared in a small number of studies by Polish and Lithuanian scholars, the background of the project, its artistic inspirations, as well as its turbulent history, including the trial for plagiarism, have so far been unknown. By means of studying documents belonging to Marian Morelowski (who participated in the activities of the Committee for the Celebration of the Witold Anniversary), preserved in the Department of Manuscripts of the Ossoliński National Institute in Wrocław, archival materials in the possession of the heirs of Marian Morelowski, and searches abroad, it was possible to discover much new, previously unknown information. Research into archival materials and contacts with the staff of the Sleńdzinski Gallery in Białystok have yielded very interesting results, which shed new light on this fascinating sculptural project and its history. The article presents the history of the project of the monument to Prince Witold, beginning with the establishment of the Committee for the Celebration of the Witold Anniversary, leading to the artistic concept and the suggestions of the author of the sculpture as to its final design, and ending with the dispute over plagiarism, which was settled in court, and whose outcome brought an unexpected conclusion to this valuable initiative to honor the memory of Prince Witold.

Włoskie pierścienie biskupie z XIX i XX wieku w kulturze artystycznej Polski

2023-11-09T12:03:42+01:00

Nineteenth- and twentieth-century Italian bishops’ rings in the artistic culture of Poland

Jewellers ‘workshops in Rome and other Italian cities receive hundreds of commissions for rings for the hierarchs of the Roman Catholic Church, starting with the Pope, and maintain a dominant position in Europe in this regard. Insignia of this kind have for centuries been one of the traditional papal gifts for bishops from around the world making their ad limina visit to the Apostolic see, and when taken back to their home countries they exert an impact on the artistic culture of these countries, both in the material sphere (constituting an important source of inspiration for pieces made locally which, over time, become gifts for museums and shrines), and in the spiritual (raising awareness of the context in which the gift took place – thereby becoming symbols of historical events and the participation of in them of specific individuals – and also the related ideological and political content). These objects are also related to cultural phenomena such as commercialization or functioning in mass culture. Examples of works from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries will be cited in support of the above-mentioned thesis regarding the complex cultural role of rings.

„Odys jestem, wracam spod Troi…” – Tadeusz Kantor i jego recepcja Odysei

2023-11-09T12:08:57+01:00

“Odysseus I am, returning from Troy…” : Tadeusz Kantor and his perception of the ‘Odyssey’

The ‘Odyssey’ is the central myth of our/European spiritual path. In 1944, in German-occupied Kraków, Tadeusz Kantor staged the drama by Stanisław Wyspiański (1869–1907) The Return of Odysseus. Kantor planned to stage this drama at the Railway Station i Kraków, crowded with German soldiers and police. At that time the Nazis were in full retreat, and Kantor envisaged Odysseus as a soldier coming home by train following the German surrender at Stalingrad. The timeliness of The Return of Odysseus in 1943–1944 was confirmed by reports of successive defeats of German troops. Neglected, dirty, populated with refugees and homeless people, the train station – in Kantor‘s vision – became the only possible place in which the individual one can mingle with the anonymous crowd while remaining anonymous himself. The artist depicted Odysseus as the embodiment of the war criminal, a traitor, an informer – as both perpetrator and victim. In the reality of war, ”the era of the crematorium ovens” there is no Ithaca, there is no reality – the world has been reduced to reality of the lowest order; it has become a trap. An important object was a dummy cannon barrel. The illusion of theater, its safe ”conventionality”, lost its raison d’être under conditions of the occupation. Ulysses/Odysseus must truly return. Kantor‘s idea was to make the theatrical drama reflect the drama of life, to make the actors’ experience the same as that of the audience. The return of Odysseus, according to Kantor, was not meant to ”detach” from reality, sending the viewer back to the world of the Homeric hero – it was an ethical and artistic response to current traumatic events. Kantor was to return to his wartime Odysseus in his Theatre of Death, entrusting him with the roles of the inn-keeper (The Dead Class), the waiters-turned-guards, the armored violinists and the recruits (Wielopole, Wielopole), and The Great Geometer (Where Are the Snows of Yesteryear).

Od Grecji do Rzymu − antyczne idee w nowej odsłonie dawnej tradycji. Teatry „Gardzienic”

2023-11-09T12:58:03+01:00

From Greece to Rome: ideas of Antiquity in a new version of an ancient tradition: the “Gardzienice” Theatre

The text presents both completed and uncompleted architectural projects made in the years 2004–2012 for the Centre for Theatre Practices “Gardzienice”, which were locations for creative meetings of people of different traditions, cultures, nations and religions. These projects tried to refer ideologically to the ancient ethos of the „Gardzienice” theatre. Operating with the language of symbols and archetypes - through the forms and orders of architecture and discrete incorporations and fusions of antique cultural-historical structures with nature and ‘fallen’ matter - they attempted to transfer the ideological values of the various ancient theatrical initiations of „Gardzienice” into the space of history, cult, culture and nature. Using models of ancient theatrical stages - both Greek and Roman - as well as their traditional prototypes and transpositions, they sought a new, symbolic embodiment of the ancient spirit of the place of Antiquity still smouldering in Gardzienice.

Tron Hadesa we Wniebowstąpieniu Tadeusza Konwickiego

2023-11-09T13:03:24+01:00

Hades’ throne in the novel “Wniebowstąpienie’’ (Ascension) by Tadeusz Konwicki

The article discusses Konwicki’s reference in “Wniebowstąpienie” (Ascension) (1967), one of the most outstanding Polish novels of the post-World War II period, to ancient representations of Hades sitting on a throne. In the novel Tadeusz Konwicki portrays Warsaw and - pars pro toto - the People’s Republic of Poland as a land of the dead, unaware of their death and functioning as if they were alive; this message is emphasised by references to Greek mythology (related to Charon, rivers flowing in Hades, the castle of the ruler of the hereafter). The author of the article searches for texts and images to which Konwicki might have referred his readers; ultimately, he argues that the image in which the writer refers to the imagery of Hades in the castle’s throne room was based on popularised studies of mythology. There were two such studies in particular in the Polish culture of the period: by Jan Parandowski and Wanda Markowska. In both cases, in the chapters devoted to the hereafter, one can notice elements that resonate strongly in the depicted world of the “Ascension”.

Antyk w polskim filmie fabularnym. Między literaturą, archeologią a sztuką

2023-11-09T13:08:05+01:00

Antiquity in Polish films: between literature, archaeology and art

Our contemporary aesthetic image of Antiquity is often shaped by films that bring to life Ancient history, great figures and myths. The most important role here was played by Hollywood blockbusters (from the 1950s and 1960s and the beginning of the 21st century) and European productions that were influenced by them. Polish cinema was surprisingly less active in this area, basing films only on adaptations of literature. This is undoubtedly a consequence of the budgetary requirements of production when the action takes place in Ancient times. The achievements of Polish films in this area are within a range indicated on the one hand by Pharaoh by Jerzy Kawalerowicz, a counter-Hollywood production from 1965, and on the other hand by Quo vadis by the same director from 2001. Among these works there is also a less well-known screen adaptation of Thais by Anatole France directed by Ryszard Ber from 1983, and the ballet film De Aegypto directed by Jolanta Ptaszyńska from 1995. Antiquity is also incidentally present in other films, but it is not a dominant trend in Polish historical film. At this point it is worth discussing the reception of Antiquity in Polish film and its relations not only with literature, but also with both Ancient and modern art (mainly in the 19th century), which often combined Antiquity with a cinematic vision of Antiquity.

Terytoria antyku. Paradoks powozu Platona?

2023-11-09T13:13:36+01:00

Ancient territories: the paradox of Plato’s chariot?

The legacy of Antiquity, both in Greek and Roman terms, is at the root of the subsequent development of art and artistic culture in Western Europe. Surveying all the eras and currents of art, researchers identify the reception of Antiquity, from medieval illuminated books, through essential academism to contemporary critical art. The subject of the presentation is an analysis of the painting Déjeuner sur l’herbe by Edouard Manet and an attempt to draw a specific map of the territories in which Antiquity took root or was (un)consciously and (in)effectively ousted. An important aspect of this hypothesis is an examination of the specificity of so-called naive art, in drawings of Nikifor Krynicki, an artist from outside the academic doctrine, creating outstanding works without any educational background, but working intuitively with the achievements of classical art. This places Antiquity in the position of both a style constructing the universal foundations of the iconographic and formal content of ancient and contemporary art, and at the same time a catalyst for shaping completely new means of expression. The presentation is a reflection on the theory and sociology of art. The starting point for reflections is the paradox of Plato’s chariot. This is a story in which the philosophers Socrates and Plato successively exchange parts of their chariots, until in the end Socrates’s chariot is made entirely of parts of Plato’s original chariot, while Plato’s chariot is made entirely of parts of Socrates’s original chariot. Does this mean that the two philosophers have exchanged chariots? And if so, at what point did this occur?

Wobec antyku. Malarstwo Kingi Nowak

2023-11-09T13:40:22+01:00

With the art of Antiquity in mind: the paintings of Kinga Nowak

The subject of the article is Kinga Nowak‘s fascination with the culture and art of Antiquity, which is reflected in her paintings. Her approach to Antiquity may be described as ’classical sensibility ‘(to use a term by Charles Jencks), in particular directed at the exploration of the topos of Arcadia. Nowak treats the heritage of Antiquity with affirmation, at the same time exploring possibilities of embodying the dream of Arcadia in her artistic practice. She finds inspiration in her numerous visits to Greece, in its contemporary landscape as well as in museum collections of the art of Antiquity. She is interested in ’musealisation‘, i.e. subsequent life in a new context of functioning, and also in modes of display, as well as in controversies concerning the possession of the works of art that have accumulated over the centuries. She is also stimulated by Greek theatre, the mysteries and rituals, for which she attempts to find contemporary forms of visualisation.

Antyk i pop-art. Twórczość rzeźbiarska Michała Jackowskiego

2023-11-09T13:48:40+01:00

Antiquity and Pop Art: the sculptural work of Michał Jackowski

The study focuses on the sculptural work of Michał Jackowski - a Bialystok artist, a graduate of the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts, whose works made of bronze and marble focus on people and values that shape interpersonal relationships. Through his figurative sculptural works, the artist poses many questions about the present. Superficial associations provoke comparisons of his work with the visual language of Igor Mitoraj. However, the artist, as well as being an experienced restorer of sculpture, is inspired by the work of Michelangelo as well as by Auguste Rodin, but also by the sculptures of Marino Marini, Constantin Brâncuși and Roy Lichtenstein. The text illustrates how Michał Jackowski’s classical sculptures, referring to popular culture, are for the artist himself a universal code for interpersonal communication and dialogue. His sculptures, based upon the ancient culture of the Mediterranean basin while at the same time referring to American Pop Art and its examination of consumerism, mass art and popular culture, pose a number of provocative questions directed by the sculptor at the contemporary individual. These are questions about the sense of human existence, forms of human behavior, interpersonal relationships and states of mind. The artist combines in an extremely original and individual manner the synthesis of expression (contained in his marbles and bronzes) with the classic form. And by means of traditional sculptural technique and the use of noble Carrara marble and bronze, which he combines with contemporary themes, he shows how extremely attractive works originating in humanistic anthropocentrism can be in the 21st century.

(Post)klasycyzm Igora Mitoraja

2023-11-09T13:55:41+01:00

The (Post)Classicism of Igor Mitoraj

The work of Igor Mitoraj exists somewhere between Classicism and Postmodernism. It is located after Modernism, but also after Classicism. So what is classic in the work of Mitoraj? Myth, figurativeness, attachment to material and good workmanship, and beauty (at least declaredly). What does Mitoraj have in common with Postmodernism? Vagueness, understatement, fragmentation, emptiness, lack of a single narrative, double coding (eroticism), camp (oscillating around kitsch), departure from intellectualism in favor of metaphors. Some characteristic features linking Mitoraj with Classicism and Postmodernism are analyzed in the article: myth, beauty, eroticism and aesthetic reflection. The results of such analysis indicate that the reception of his art may significantly differ from what the author himself intended.

Mitoraj: od mitu do… Oświęcimia

2023-11-09T14:21:52+01:00

Mitoraj: from myth to… Oświęcim

The subject of the article is a formal and semantic analysis or selected works by Igor Mitoraj (1944–2014), a sculptor of Polish origin, whose work was created under the influence of the art of Antiquity. Like the Greek masters, he made use of marble and bronze as well as of classical forms, while also selecting themes associated with mythology: “Looking back at my work, I am increasingly convinced that the art of Antiquity was and is for me the ideal, and also ties in with a nostalgia for a lost Eden”, he stated. In spite of evident references to classical works, his sculptures introduce a new quality, which departs from the spirit of Antiquity: Eros bendato, located in the Main Marketplace in Kraków, or Asklepios, in the Remembrance Museum of Land of Oświęcim Residents (Museum Commemorating the Inhabitants of the Oświęcim Region), catch the attention of every passer-by and every visitor, but, with the exception of the obligatory photograph taken beside the sculpture, do they evoke any deeper refections or connotations with the Greek world?

Meduza jako godło Igora Mitoraja

2023-11-09T14:39:44+01:00

Medusa as the emblem of Igor Mitoraj

The sculptures of Igor Mitoraj (1944–2014) are characterised by Ancient Greek beauty of the Classical era. At the same time Mitoraj, as a pupil of Tadeusz Kantor, also perceived beauty in that which was defective or fragmentary. His world became saturated with the culture of Ancient Italy. A motif that frequently appears in his creative work is that of the Gorgon Medusa, which has fascinated artists over two millennia. In the words of Goethe, the reason for this is that “it expressed the chasm separating life from death, pain from pleasure, matters which fascinate us the most”. Mitoraj sculpted her beautiful head with writhing snakes instead of hair in marble and metal as an independent sculpture, but more frequently incorporated her head into other compositions. Medusa became the artist’s signature. In
form it was similar to the Rondanini Medusa or that by Bernini. A similar depiction of the head of Medusa appears in the portrait of the sculptor Tadeusz Błotnicki painted by Jacek Malczewski. Her close-pressed lips breathe inspiration towards the artist. Medusa is immortal, and for Mitoraj she becomes his symbol for Art, which likewise grants immortality.

Titelei

2023-11-08T11:08:28+01:00