DOI Artikel:
Wójcik, Agata: „Myśl artystyczna”, która przeniknęła do „knajp”: Wnętrza restauracyjne w Starym Teatrze w Krakowie projektu artystów związanych z Towarzystwem Polska Sztuka Stosowana
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.44918#0149
artistic circles share the pursuit of simplicity in the way the furniture is designed; the
impact of the materials themselves; the combination of all elements of the interior
into harmonious whole; and complementing the modest furnishings with painting
decoration or, as in the case of the Stary Teatr, with kilim rugs.
Press coverage of the interiors of the Stary Teatr also prompted other restaurant
and cafe owners to take advantage of the skills of the tpss artists. The most widely
described and analysed interior was that of Jama Michalika cafe, designed by Karol
Frycz and surviving to this day - but it was not the only one.32 In Kraków, Dąbrowa-
Dąbrowski was in the lead when it came to restaurant interior design. He was en-
trusted with designing the interiors of the Noworolski cafe in Sukiennice (see: Fig. 17).
Similarly to the interiors in the Stary Teatr, this arrangement was praised for the fact
that “instead of the deadly ‘Viennese’ monotony, he created an interior with its own,
fresh and original character [...]. The artist produced a large variety herein. Each
room has its own tonę, and its own rangę of colours. The First room is a kind of ladies’
boudoir in the light tones, with a predominance of white. The second room, apart
from mahogany furniture, is decorated in lilac shades, while the third - in character
reminiscent of a refined smoking room - is kept in tones of grey and green. Everything
is harmonised with these essential chords of colour: the wali paintings, the wainscots,
the wood and the upholstery of the furniture, not forgetting lamps and candlesticks”.33
The interior has been partially preserved, albeit the tones of individual rooms have
been changed. Dąbrowa was also the author of polychrome paintings in the restaurant
hall at the Saski Hotel in Kraków. He also designed five smaller restaurant rooms for
that same hotel, each in a different tonę - red, yellow, blue, green, and the last one
decorated with stained glass.34 Henryk Uziembło designed several restaurants and ca-
fes - including the (never actually completed) Ripper and Wołkowski s cafe in Kraków,
and the “Roma” cafe in Lviv.35 In Warsaw, Edward Trojanowski, who lectured at the
local School of Fine Arts there, designed a cafe at the Grand Hotel in the Luxemburg
Gallery, known only from photographs in the press, unfortunately of inferior quality.36
The fashion for interiors in the style of “Polish applied art” sometimes produced
effects akin to pastiche or caricature. Entrepreneurs who worked in the field of gas-
tronomy tried to attract customers using well-known names of artists. An example
of this might be the Roman Drobner s restaurant, located in Kraków s Planty park
(and called “Drobnerion”), whose interior was decorated with numerous naturalistic
stuccoes showing palm trees and philodendrons growing out of the Zakopane-style
ladies. Then, Drobner commissioned Karol Frycz to paint a polychrome decoration.
The painter tried to mask and overshadow the existing, overabundant decorations,
and he madę paintings depicting cooks, as well as turkeys, peacocks, roosters, and
flower garlands. Unfortunately, the unsuccessful stuccos still attracted the atten-
tion of the visitors who blamed Frycz - they thought he was responsible for the
whole of the interior design.37 Architect Jan Zawiejski, the maker of the building,
32 See: E. Matyaszewska, Przestrzeń kawiarni i przestrzeń sztuki. Jama Michalika w Krakowie, fin
de siecle i Młoda Polska, “Pamiętnik Sztuk Pięknych”, 2015, issue 10, pp. 383-392.
33 Cukiernia w Sukiennicach krakowskich J. Noworolskiego, “Świat”, 1912, issue 47, p. 24.
34 Nowa sala restauracyjna w Krakowie, “Wieś ilustrowana”, 1910, issue 5, z. 7, pp. 48-49.
35 Katalog wystawy architektury i wnętrz w otoczeniu ogrodowem pod parkiem dra Jordanu w Kra-
kowie. Czerwiec-październik 1912 r., Kraków 1912, p. 36.
36 Grand Hotel - Grand Cafe, „Świat”, 1911, issue 37, p. 24.
37 J. Warchałowski, Współpracownictwo w architekturze, “Architekt”, 1907, issue 9-10, pp. 47-48.
17. Eugeniusz Dąbrowa-
-Dąbrowski, interior of the
Noworolski cafe in Kraków,
present condition, photo by
Agata Wójcik.
-> see p.134
“Artistic thought” which permeated “common taverns”...
147
impact of the materials themselves; the combination of all elements of the interior
into harmonious whole; and complementing the modest furnishings with painting
decoration or, as in the case of the Stary Teatr, with kilim rugs.
Press coverage of the interiors of the Stary Teatr also prompted other restaurant
and cafe owners to take advantage of the skills of the tpss artists. The most widely
described and analysed interior was that of Jama Michalika cafe, designed by Karol
Frycz and surviving to this day - but it was not the only one.32 In Kraków, Dąbrowa-
Dąbrowski was in the lead when it came to restaurant interior design. He was en-
trusted with designing the interiors of the Noworolski cafe in Sukiennice (see: Fig. 17).
Similarly to the interiors in the Stary Teatr, this arrangement was praised for the fact
that “instead of the deadly ‘Viennese’ monotony, he created an interior with its own,
fresh and original character [...]. The artist produced a large variety herein. Each
room has its own tonę, and its own rangę of colours. The First room is a kind of ladies’
boudoir in the light tones, with a predominance of white. The second room, apart
from mahogany furniture, is decorated in lilac shades, while the third - in character
reminiscent of a refined smoking room - is kept in tones of grey and green. Everything
is harmonised with these essential chords of colour: the wali paintings, the wainscots,
the wood and the upholstery of the furniture, not forgetting lamps and candlesticks”.33
The interior has been partially preserved, albeit the tones of individual rooms have
been changed. Dąbrowa was also the author of polychrome paintings in the restaurant
hall at the Saski Hotel in Kraków. He also designed five smaller restaurant rooms for
that same hotel, each in a different tonę - red, yellow, blue, green, and the last one
decorated with stained glass.34 Henryk Uziembło designed several restaurants and ca-
fes - including the (never actually completed) Ripper and Wołkowski s cafe in Kraków,
and the “Roma” cafe in Lviv.35 In Warsaw, Edward Trojanowski, who lectured at the
local School of Fine Arts there, designed a cafe at the Grand Hotel in the Luxemburg
Gallery, known only from photographs in the press, unfortunately of inferior quality.36
The fashion for interiors in the style of “Polish applied art” sometimes produced
effects akin to pastiche or caricature. Entrepreneurs who worked in the field of gas-
tronomy tried to attract customers using well-known names of artists. An example
of this might be the Roman Drobner s restaurant, located in Kraków s Planty park
(and called “Drobnerion”), whose interior was decorated with numerous naturalistic
stuccoes showing palm trees and philodendrons growing out of the Zakopane-style
ladies. Then, Drobner commissioned Karol Frycz to paint a polychrome decoration.
The painter tried to mask and overshadow the existing, overabundant decorations,
and he madę paintings depicting cooks, as well as turkeys, peacocks, roosters, and
flower garlands. Unfortunately, the unsuccessful stuccos still attracted the atten-
tion of the visitors who blamed Frycz - they thought he was responsible for the
whole of the interior design.37 Architect Jan Zawiejski, the maker of the building,
32 See: E. Matyaszewska, Przestrzeń kawiarni i przestrzeń sztuki. Jama Michalika w Krakowie, fin
de siecle i Młoda Polska, “Pamiętnik Sztuk Pięknych”, 2015, issue 10, pp. 383-392.
33 Cukiernia w Sukiennicach krakowskich J. Noworolskiego, “Świat”, 1912, issue 47, p. 24.
34 Nowa sala restauracyjna w Krakowie, “Wieś ilustrowana”, 1910, issue 5, z. 7, pp. 48-49.
35 Katalog wystawy architektury i wnętrz w otoczeniu ogrodowem pod parkiem dra Jordanu w Kra-
kowie. Czerwiec-październik 1912 r., Kraków 1912, p. 36.
36 Grand Hotel - Grand Cafe, „Świat”, 1911, issue 37, p. 24.
37 J. Warchałowski, Współpracownictwo w architekturze, “Architekt”, 1907, issue 9-10, pp. 47-48.
17. Eugeniusz Dąbrowa-
-Dąbrowski, interior of the
Noworolski cafe in Kraków,
present condition, photo by
Agata Wójcik.
-> see p.134
“Artistic thought” which permeated “common taverns”...
147