DOI issue:
Nr. 4
DOI article:Artykuły
DOI article:Wiszniewska, Anna: Towarzystwo "Zdobnictwo Polskie" - próba przeszczepienia na grunt warszawski zdobyczy "Warsztatów Krakowskich"
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.71008#0675
Towarzystwo „Zdobnictwo Polskie"
661
Polish Decorative Arts Society - Attempt to Transfer the
Achievements of the "Kraków Workshops" to Warsaw
The circumstances of the foundation, programme
goals, and the main accomplishments of the Polish
Decorative Arts Society are described. The Society
was set up in late 1913 by a group of artists, craftsmen,
and so-called "fans" (mainly representatives of
Warsaw's middle class) who cared for the
development of Polish decorative arts. The main
initiator to form the Society was Natalia Boberówna,
an artist educated in Kraków, and skilled at intarsia
and encrustation. Next to her signature on the
Society's Statue there are 80 of other founding
members, among them e.g. His Eminence Archbishop
of Warsaw Aleksander Kakowski; Matylda and
Henryk Grohman, manufacturers and art patrons;
Władysław Tatarkiewicz, a philosopher and art
historian; the collector Stanisław Ursyn Rusiecki;
Franciszek Ejsmont, a painter and director of the
Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts; the
ceramicist Stanisław Jagmin; the painter Edward
Trojanowski; the bronze worker Felliks Łopieński.
The statute ofthe Society reads that its goal is "to
support (...) Polish artistic craftsmanship in the
broadest possible range" and to aim to "create
original expression in the executed objects, while
aiming at bestowing upon them a genuine yet native
quality". Efficiently fulfilling these goals, the
Society began its activity with launching its own
shop, accompanied by a permanent exhibition of
artistic industry. Located in the former Zamoyski
Palace in Kraków, the shop offered works of the
already acclaimed artists: e.g. ceramicist Stanisław
Jagmin; Zofia Szydłowska; the Czarkowskis, from the
Czechowski-Wojnacki workshop; kilim rugs from the
"Zakopane" Company, textiles from Antonina
Sikorska's workshop. Among the displaying artists
there appeared, however, new names, such as the most
highly appraised Natalia Boberówna, Maria
Karczewska, and Maria Śliwińska.
It was keeping in contact with other similarly
profiled organizations that constituted one of the
most important goals ofthe Society. Thus soon after
its foundation, since already in 1914, it established
cooperation with the Kraków Workshops and
offered their products in its shop (e.g. kilim rugs,
batiques, and toys).
Apart from its commercial activity, the Society
held decorative arts displays and contests. An
extremely successful example of this can be seen in
the exhibition of Polish decorative arts display held
at Warsaw's Baryczka House, which allowed to
select exhibits for the 1925 International Exhibition
of Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris. Moreover,
the Society were the ones who organized the sales of
Polish craft during the Paris Exhibition, this having
proved extremely successful: the Polish stall
designed by Karol Stryjeński, with a highlanders'
band playing in front, was extremely popular with
the public, while its attendants impressed everybody
with exquisite manners. The participation in the
Paris show was the Society's last recorded activity.
Its decline may have been caused by Natalia
Boberówna quitting, and possibly the emergence of
a new organization, namely the ŁAD Artistic
Cooperative.
Translated by Magdalena Iwińska
661
Polish Decorative Arts Society - Attempt to Transfer the
Achievements of the "Kraków Workshops" to Warsaw
The circumstances of the foundation, programme
goals, and the main accomplishments of the Polish
Decorative Arts Society are described. The Society
was set up in late 1913 by a group of artists, craftsmen,
and so-called "fans" (mainly representatives of
Warsaw's middle class) who cared for the
development of Polish decorative arts. The main
initiator to form the Society was Natalia Boberówna,
an artist educated in Kraków, and skilled at intarsia
and encrustation. Next to her signature on the
Society's Statue there are 80 of other founding
members, among them e.g. His Eminence Archbishop
of Warsaw Aleksander Kakowski; Matylda and
Henryk Grohman, manufacturers and art patrons;
Władysław Tatarkiewicz, a philosopher and art
historian; the collector Stanisław Ursyn Rusiecki;
Franciszek Ejsmont, a painter and director of the
Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts; the
ceramicist Stanisław Jagmin; the painter Edward
Trojanowski; the bronze worker Felliks Łopieński.
The statute ofthe Society reads that its goal is "to
support (...) Polish artistic craftsmanship in the
broadest possible range" and to aim to "create
original expression in the executed objects, while
aiming at bestowing upon them a genuine yet native
quality". Efficiently fulfilling these goals, the
Society began its activity with launching its own
shop, accompanied by a permanent exhibition of
artistic industry. Located in the former Zamoyski
Palace in Kraków, the shop offered works of the
already acclaimed artists: e.g. ceramicist Stanisław
Jagmin; Zofia Szydłowska; the Czarkowskis, from the
Czechowski-Wojnacki workshop; kilim rugs from the
"Zakopane" Company, textiles from Antonina
Sikorska's workshop. Among the displaying artists
there appeared, however, new names, such as the most
highly appraised Natalia Boberówna, Maria
Karczewska, and Maria Śliwińska.
It was keeping in contact with other similarly
profiled organizations that constituted one of the
most important goals ofthe Society. Thus soon after
its foundation, since already in 1914, it established
cooperation with the Kraków Workshops and
offered their products in its shop (e.g. kilim rugs,
batiques, and toys).
Apart from its commercial activity, the Society
held decorative arts displays and contests. An
extremely successful example of this can be seen in
the exhibition of Polish decorative arts display held
at Warsaw's Baryczka House, which allowed to
select exhibits for the 1925 International Exhibition
of Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris. Moreover,
the Society were the ones who organized the sales of
Polish craft during the Paris Exhibition, this having
proved extremely successful: the Polish stall
designed by Karol Stryjeński, with a highlanders'
band playing in front, was extremely popular with
the public, while its attendants impressed everybody
with exquisite manners. The participation in the
Paris show was the Society's last recorded activity.
Its decline may have been caused by Natalia
Boberówna quitting, and possibly the emergence of
a new organization, namely the ŁAD Artistic
Cooperative.
Translated by Magdalena Iwińska