DOI Artikel:
Wójcik, Agata: “Looking Back” – an artistic tendency in Polish interior design around 1910
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.54670#0072
Folia Historiae Artium
Seria Nowa, t. 18: 2020/PL ISSN 0071-6723
AGATA WÓJCIK
Pedagogical University of Cracow
“LOOKING BACK” -
AN ARTISTIC TENDENCY
IN POLISH INTERIOR DESIGN AROUND 1910*
Throughout the first decade of the 20th century, the dec-
orative art of different European circles seemed to be
somewhat overburdened with innovative seccessional
forms and started to trend towards tradition and histori-
cal styles. This was also connected with various nations’
pursuit of roots and identities, and with attempts to base
their national styles on historical forms. Many German
and Austro-Hungarian designers turned to Biedermeier,
which is a complex phenomenon already discussed in
the literature* 1. Polish design at the turn of the 20th centu-
ry also demonstrated paraphrases of Biedermeier, as was
discussed in a separate text2. At the same time, around
1910, there could be noticed references to the styles of
Louis XVI, Empire, and Louis Philippe or to other styles
* The article was written as part of the research project The Fa-
thers of the Polish design. The Society of Polish Applied Art. Inte-
rior and furniture design financed by the National Science Centre
(2015/17/D/HS2/01215).
1 See: Biedermeier. The Invention of Simplicity, ed. by H. Ottomeyer,
K. A. Schröder, L. Winters, Ostfildern, 2006; Biedermeier. Art and
Culture in the Bohemian Lands 1814-1848, ed. by H. Brozkovâ,
R. Vondracek, Prague, 2010; W. O. Harrod, ‘Clarity, Proportion,
Purity, and Restraint: The Biedermeier and the Origins of Twenti-
eth-Century Modernism’, Centropa a Journal of Central European
Architecture and Related Arts, 2010, no. 2, pp. 106-127; Ch. Long,
‘Adolf Loos and the Biedermeier Revival in Vienna’, Centropa
a Journal of Central European Architecture and Related Arts, 2010,
no. 2, pp. 128-140.
2 A. Wójcik, ‘Parafrazy biedermeieru w meblarstwie polskim
początku XX wieku i w dwudziestoleciu międzywojennym’,
Journal of the International Association of Research Institutes in
the History of Art, 2019, no. 234, https://www.riha-journal.org/
articles/2019/0234-wojcik-PL (dostęp: 12.10.2020).
of the 18th and 19th century decorative arts. Most artists did
not copy old decorations or forms but sought to create
their own interpretations or to combine them in an eclec-
tic way. These inspirations were combined with fairy tale-
like, colourful orientalism. This tendency can be observed
in the work of Viennese and Parisian designers. This ar-
ticle discusses this trend in Polish design of the early 20th
century. To illustrate it, I compare the interiors and fur-
niture designed by Henryk Uziembło, Ludwik Wojtyczko
and Karol Frycz with those of French and Austrian de-
signers.
Referring back to the past, “looking back” in decora-
tive art can be seen in the works of the Vienna Workshops
artists. It emerged especially after 1907, when the master
of the minimalist form who repeatedly would reject deco-
ration, Koloman Moser, had left the Workshops. “The re-
venge of the ornament”, after years of purist Quadratstil,
could already be seen in the interior of the Brussels Sto-
clet palace, designed by Josef Hoffmann (1905-1911). The
interiors are dominated by massive furniture covered with
intarsia, leather or quilted textiles; what was unusually
decorative was the floors, wallpapers, wooden and mar-
ble wall facings as well as some almost abstract mosaics
by Gustav Klimt. After 1909, Hoffmann clearly turned to
classical forms, examples of which are the Ast and Skyra-
-Primavesi villas in Vienna and the country villa of the
Primavesis in Winkelsdorf. Their furnishings were a de-
velopment of the style visible in the Stoclet palace. The
interiors were filled with massive, carved and upholstered
furniture, wooden or marble wall facings, patchworked
carpets, multicoloured curtains and wallpapers, etc. These
designs were the heralds of art déco. The ornament tri-
umphed around 1910 in ceramics, metalwork, jewellery
and textiles designed by Hoffmann, Carl Otto Czeschka,
Publikacja jest udostępniona na licencji Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 PL).
Seria Nowa, t. 18: 2020/PL ISSN 0071-6723
AGATA WÓJCIK
Pedagogical University of Cracow
“LOOKING BACK” -
AN ARTISTIC TENDENCY
IN POLISH INTERIOR DESIGN AROUND 1910*
Throughout the first decade of the 20th century, the dec-
orative art of different European circles seemed to be
somewhat overburdened with innovative seccessional
forms and started to trend towards tradition and histori-
cal styles. This was also connected with various nations’
pursuit of roots and identities, and with attempts to base
their national styles on historical forms. Many German
and Austro-Hungarian designers turned to Biedermeier,
which is a complex phenomenon already discussed in
the literature* 1. Polish design at the turn of the 20th centu-
ry also demonstrated paraphrases of Biedermeier, as was
discussed in a separate text2. At the same time, around
1910, there could be noticed references to the styles of
Louis XVI, Empire, and Louis Philippe or to other styles
* The article was written as part of the research project The Fa-
thers of the Polish design. The Society of Polish Applied Art. Inte-
rior and furniture design financed by the National Science Centre
(2015/17/D/HS2/01215).
1 See: Biedermeier. The Invention of Simplicity, ed. by H. Ottomeyer,
K. A. Schröder, L. Winters, Ostfildern, 2006; Biedermeier. Art and
Culture in the Bohemian Lands 1814-1848, ed. by H. Brozkovâ,
R. Vondracek, Prague, 2010; W. O. Harrod, ‘Clarity, Proportion,
Purity, and Restraint: The Biedermeier and the Origins of Twenti-
eth-Century Modernism’, Centropa a Journal of Central European
Architecture and Related Arts, 2010, no. 2, pp. 106-127; Ch. Long,
‘Adolf Loos and the Biedermeier Revival in Vienna’, Centropa
a Journal of Central European Architecture and Related Arts, 2010,
no. 2, pp. 128-140.
2 A. Wójcik, ‘Parafrazy biedermeieru w meblarstwie polskim
początku XX wieku i w dwudziestoleciu międzywojennym’,
Journal of the International Association of Research Institutes in
the History of Art, 2019, no. 234, https://www.riha-journal.org/
articles/2019/0234-wojcik-PL (dostęp: 12.10.2020).
of the 18th and 19th century decorative arts. Most artists did
not copy old decorations or forms but sought to create
their own interpretations or to combine them in an eclec-
tic way. These inspirations were combined with fairy tale-
like, colourful orientalism. This tendency can be observed
in the work of Viennese and Parisian designers. This ar-
ticle discusses this trend in Polish design of the early 20th
century. To illustrate it, I compare the interiors and fur-
niture designed by Henryk Uziembło, Ludwik Wojtyczko
and Karol Frycz with those of French and Austrian de-
signers.
Referring back to the past, “looking back” in decora-
tive art can be seen in the works of the Vienna Workshops
artists. It emerged especially after 1907, when the master
of the minimalist form who repeatedly would reject deco-
ration, Koloman Moser, had left the Workshops. “The re-
venge of the ornament”, after years of purist Quadratstil,
could already be seen in the interior of the Brussels Sto-
clet palace, designed by Josef Hoffmann (1905-1911). The
interiors are dominated by massive furniture covered with
intarsia, leather or quilted textiles; what was unusually
decorative was the floors, wallpapers, wooden and mar-
ble wall facings as well as some almost abstract mosaics
by Gustav Klimt. After 1909, Hoffmann clearly turned to
classical forms, examples of which are the Ast and Skyra-
-Primavesi villas in Vienna and the country villa of the
Primavesis in Winkelsdorf. Their furnishings were a de-
velopment of the style visible in the Stoclet palace. The
interiors were filled with massive, carved and upholstered
furniture, wooden or marble wall facings, patchworked
carpets, multicoloured curtains and wallpapers, etc. These
designs were the heralds of art déco. The ornament tri-
umphed around 1910 in ceramics, metalwork, jewellery
and textiles designed by Hoffmann, Carl Otto Czeschka,
Publikacja jest udostępniona na licencji Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 PL).