DOI Artikel:
Wójcik, Agata: The Society for Polish Applied Art versus the Vienna Workshops - an attempt at comparison: stylistic analogies in furniture an interior design
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.51757#0133
THE SOCIETY FOR POLISH APPLIED ART VERSUS THE VIENNA WORKSHOPS...
131
1. Stanislaw Wyspiański, Bedroom in the Żeleńskis’ flat, 1904-1905,
“Świat”, 1908, no. 8, p. 5
2. Josef Hoffmann, Bedroom of Johanna
and Johannes Salzer, 1902,
“Das Interieur”, 1903, vol. 4, p. 7
sented, in which the square and rectangle became the ornament again.30 In a similar style, in 1902/1903,
Hoffmann designed several bedrooms for Max Biach’s Viennese apartment.31
The furniture in the Żeleńskis’ apartment was designed by the artist like a theater set. The positioning
of each individual piece of furniture was predetermined by the designer; they were not to be moved. It
was impossible to take the furniture and arrange it, in an equally effective way, in a different space in
the case of moving house. These furniture pieces did not look good with foreign, added elements, such
as trinkets. They blended best with Wyspiański’s paintings. As Tadeusz Żeleński wrote, furniture “should
always be in its place, clean, cold, untouchable”. Due to the fact that furniture was constructed using
a predetermined module, it had harmonious proportions, but, unfortunately, for this reason, it was also
very impractical. Żeleński recalled that, among other things, in the bedroom, the bedside tables were
too high, the backs of the couches in the living room ate the back of the seated, the armchairs had too
shallow seats, the chairs in the dining room in turn had too high backs, which was a hindrance when
diner was being served. As the owner of the furniture wrote, “in the whole furniture arrangement, there
was not a single piece of furniture on which one could rest, each made one sit stiffly straight”, but “hey
were beautiful as a whole”.32 The apartment designed by Wyspiański was a realisation of the idea of
“Geamkunstwerk”, which artists from the circle of the Vienna Workshops followed.
Żeleński’s text also revelead the dark side of a design which does not take into account the needs
of the user, but only an idea. The story of certain furniture can be juxtaposed with Adolf Loos’s text
Poor rich man. The Viennese architect criticized supporters of coherently designed interiors, where each
element is part of a larger whole. An architect designs for the “poor rich man” an interior, in which
every room is in one tone; walls, furniture, fabrics are in perfect harmony; each object in the interior
has its place and should not be moved; no new items should be added. Living in this space, the owner
becomes a prisoner of his home, spending time in it no longer gives him pleasure, this space no longer
expresses his emotions, habits.33 Similarly, the Żeleńskis, although they admired Wyspiański’s talent, were
unable to adapt to the rigorous interior and spent most of their time in the study, where old, worn-out
but comfortable furniture was put.
Around 1908, study furniture was created by Edward Trojanowski for the Nobel Prize winner, Włady-
sław Reymont. In this set of furniture for the writer, there could be observed some influence of folk art,
which was visible in the ornamentation of bookshelves and the table. However, strictly geometrical forms
30 “Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration”, 15, 1904/1905, p. 128.
31 Ch. Witt-Dörring, Max Biach Residence, [in:] Josef Hoffmann. Interiors..., pp. 151-173.
32 T. Żeleński, Historia pewnych mebli, [in:] Reflektorem w mrok, ed. A.Z. Makowiecki, Warsaw 1984, pp. 141-148.
33 A. Loos, Ornament i zbrodnia. Eseje wybrane, trans. A. Stępnikowska-Bems, Tarnów 2013, pp. 120-124.
131
1. Stanislaw Wyspiański, Bedroom in the Żeleńskis’ flat, 1904-1905,
“Świat”, 1908, no. 8, p. 5
2. Josef Hoffmann, Bedroom of Johanna
and Johannes Salzer, 1902,
“Das Interieur”, 1903, vol. 4, p. 7
sented, in which the square and rectangle became the ornament again.30 In a similar style, in 1902/1903,
Hoffmann designed several bedrooms for Max Biach’s Viennese apartment.31
The furniture in the Żeleńskis’ apartment was designed by the artist like a theater set. The positioning
of each individual piece of furniture was predetermined by the designer; they were not to be moved. It
was impossible to take the furniture and arrange it, in an equally effective way, in a different space in
the case of moving house. These furniture pieces did not look good with foreign, added elements, such
as trinkets. They blended best with Wyspiański’s paintings. As Tadeusz Żeleński wrote, furniture “should
always be in its place, clean, cold, untouchable”. Due to the fact that furniture was constructed using
a predetermined module, it had harmonious proportions, but, unfortunately, for this reason, it was also
very impractical. Żeleński recalled that, among other things, in the bedroom, the bedside tables were
too high, the backs of the couches in the living room ate the back of the seated, the armchairs had too
shallow seats, the chairs in the dining room in turn had too high backs, which was a hindrance when
diner was being served. As the owner of the furniture wrote, “in the whole furniture arrangement, there
was not a single piece of furniture on which one could rest, each made one sit stiffly straight”, but “hey
were beautiful as a whole”.32 The apartment designed by Wyspiański was a realisation of the idea of
“Geamkunstwerk”, which artists from the circle of the Vienna Workshops followed.
Żeleński’s text also revelead the dark side of a design which does not take into account the needs
of the user, but only an idea. The story of certain furniture can be juxtaposed with Adolf Loos’s text
Poor rich man. The Viennese architect criticized supporters of coherently designed interiors, where each
element is part of a larger whole. An architect designs for the “poor rich man” an interior, in which
every room is in one tone; walls, furniture, fabrics are in perfect harmony; each object in the interior
has its place and should not be moved; no new items should be added. Living in this space, the owner
becomes a prisoner of his home, spending time in it no longer gives him pleasure, this space no longer
expresses his emotions, habits.33 Similarly, the Żeleńskis, although they admired Wyspiański’s talent, were
unable to adapt to the rigorous interior and spent most of their time in the study, where old, worn-out
but comfortable furniture was put.
Around 1908, study furniture was created by Edward Trojanowski for the Nobel Prize winner, Włady-
sław Reymont. In this set of furniture for the writer, there could be observed some influence of folk art,
which was visible in the ornamentation of bookshelves and the table. However, strictly geometrical forms
30 “Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration”, 15, 1904/1905, p. 128.
31 Ch. Witt-Dörring, Max Biach Residence, [in:] Josef Hoffmann. Interiors..., pp. 151-173.
32 T. Żeleński, Historia pewnych mebli, [in:] Reflektorem w mrok, ed. A.Z. Makowiecki, Warsaw 1984, pp. 141-148.
33 A. Loos, Ornament i zbrodnia. Eseje wybrane, trans. A. Stępnikowska-Bems, Tarnów 2013, pp. 120-124.