DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.23631#0094
room was obliterated as a result of redecoration. The rear larger room, added to the cafe in 1911 and
designed entirely by Karol Frycz, was preserved almost intact. Frycz had long studied abroad, in Munich,
Paris, Vienna and London, and was familiar with virtually all modern artistic trends and concepts. He
was also a historian of art, painter, graphic artist and stage designer. His decor of Michalik's cafe was
a masterpiece of its type, a conglomerate of Art Nouveau and Russian fairy-tale. Its doors arc framed
by barrel-like pillars and S-shaped lintels; it had English-style chairs, panelled walls, a fireplace, stained-glass
windows and ornamental panels by Kazimierz Sichulski, sculptures, drawings and prints by Young Poland
artists, among them Witold Wojtkiewicz and Frycz himself. There was also one of the famous Cracow
Christmas cribs, as well as puppets from the Green Balloon cabaret. Most important of all however was
the inimitable atmosphere which reigned there from the very beginning, an atmosphere which nothing
could suppress in the course of those seventy years of our turbulent century.
The Cracow school of interior decoration radiated influence all over the country. In nearby Zakopane,
Karol Frycz, Henryk Uziemblo, Jan Rembowski and Kazimierz Sichulski arranged the interior of Dr.
Dfuski's sanatorium where Frycz designed voluminous furniture, openwork cupboards, metal grates and
heart-shaped friezes above the wainscotting, tiles with figures of cats above the radiators and a long-case
clock with sun motifs. Frycz designed various interiors in Warsaw, among them in the Hotel Angielski.
Another Warsaw artist was Edward Trojanowski, who designed primarily theatre interiors, including that
of Warsaw's Grand Theatre, and the popular Cabaret Chochlik, as well as the interiors of many Warsaw
apartments. The Art Nouveau in architecture and interior design spread to other Polish towns, Lodz
in particular. It often tended towards eclecticism, borrowing, for example, certain elements from the
Louis XVI style, as was the case with the restaurants of Warsaw's Bristol Hotel and Lodz's Grand
Hotel. In all these projects, Polish craftsmen cooperated directly with leading Polish artists. The outbreak
of the Second World War put a dramatic end to this constructive cooperation.
During the Art Noveau and Young Poland period, the following branches of craftsmanship
developed particularly rapidly: weaving, furniture making, pottery, metal work, stained-glass and mosaic
making and bookbinding.
In weaving, kilim making was particularly developed. Two types of kilim were made: those woven
on horizontal looms and the gobelin-type rugs woven on standing looms. Rugs were designed by such
well-known artists as Kazimierz Brzozowski, Franciszek Bruzdowicz, Jozef Czajkowski, Eugeniusz
D^browa D^browski, Karol Tichy, Edward Trojanowski and Jerzy Warchalowski, who as a rule applied
simple geometrical motifs vaguely resembling oriental models, floral patterns (nasturtiums or geraniums)
or else themes in the Art Nouveau style. The same artists also supplied designs for the afore-mentioned
Antonina Sikorska's workshop in Czernichow near Cracow. Kazimierz Mlodzianowski's and Wojciech
Jastrz^bowski's kilims featured rhythmic geometrical motifs in deep blacks, reds, yellows and blues, all
obtained from natural vegetable dyes. A specific branch of textile manufacture was batik cloth — a product
of the Far East, which still often provided a source of inspiration in the Art Nouveau era. Batik production
was started at the Cracow Workshops under the supervision of Warchalowski, who was assisted by the expert
dyers Antoni Buszek and Norbert Okolowicz. The principal colours used were dark blues, rusty reds,
deep reds, whites and yellows, occasionally also browns and greens. Patterns were transposed directly
on the fabric by experienced artists, for example Wojciech Jastrz^bowski, and young girls who quickly
acquired astonishing mastery in applying slightly naive, enchanting motifs of flower vases, horses, roosters
and zigzags. The batik method was employed in decorating small tapestries, table-cloths, shawls and
ribbons, and later also wooden boxes. Batiks were made at the Cracow Workshops up till 1930.
As regards furniture, attempts continued to replace the generally unpopular Art Nouveau with a new
national style. As recommended by Stanislaw Witkiewicz, models were mostly sought in the Zakopane
style, but this too seemed rather dull, even trashy. The type of furniture made at the Cracow Workshops
was simple, functional and unadorned, portending as it were the furniture style which was to come later
in the century.
In artistic pottery, the first decades of the 20th century saw many experiments and a certain interest
in this field on the part of 'true-born' artists, mostly sculptors. Hence the appearance of ceramic sculptured
forms and figures. The leading artists in this domain were Waclaw B^bnowski in Aleksandrow Kujawski,
Maria Mecina-Krzeszowska in Cracow, and Stanislaw Jagmin in Warsaw, who was also a sculptor.
One of the leading producers of pottery was the ceramic factory in Cracow's Debniki district, which in
1900 was bought by Franciszka Kirchmayer for her sons. Its old name, J. Niedzwiedzki and Co., was
designed entirely by Karol Frycz, was preserved almost intact. Frycz had long studied abroad, in Munich,
Paris, Vienna and London, and was familiar with virtually all modern artistic trends and concepts. He
was also a historian of art, painter, graphic artist and stage designer. His decor of Michalik's cafe was
a masterpiece of its type, a conglomerate of Art Nouveau and Russian fairy-tale. Its doors arc framed
by barrel-like pillars and S-shaped lintels; it had English-style chairs, panelled walls, a fireplace, stained-glass
windows and ornamental panels by Kazimierz Sichulski, sculptures, drawings and prints by Young Poland
artists, among them Witold Wojtkiewicz and Frycz himself. There was also one of the famous Cracow
Christmas cribs, as well as puppets from the Green Balloon cabaret. Most important of all however was
the inimitable atmosphere which reigned there from the very beginning, an atmosphere which nothing
could suppress in the course of those seventy years of our turbulent century.
The Cracow school of interior decoration radiated influence all over the country. In nearby Zakopane,
Karol Frycz, Henryk Uziemblo, Jan Rembowski and Kazimierz Sichulski arranged the interior of Dr.
Dfuski's sanatorium where Frycz designed voluminous furniture, openwork cupboards, metal grates and
heart-shaped friezes above the wainscotting, tiles with figures of cats above the radiators and a long-case
clock with sun motifs. Frycz designed various interiors in Warsaw, among them in the Hotel Angielski.
Another Warsaw artist was Edward Trojanowski, who designed primarily theatre interiors, including that
of Warsaw's Grand Theatre, and the popular Cabaret Chochlik, as well as the interiors of many Warsaw
apartments. The Art Nouveau in architecture and interior design spread to other Polish towns, Lodz
in particular. It often tended towards eclecticism, borrowing, for example, certain elements from the
Louis XVI style, as was the case with the restaurants of Warsaw's Bristol Hotel and Lodz's Grand
Hotel. In all these projects, Polish craftsmen cooperated directly with leading Polish artists. The outbreak
of the Second World War put a dramatic end to this constructive cooperation.
During the Art Noveau and Young Poland period, the following branches of craftsmanship
developed particularly rapidly: weaving, furniture making, pottery, metal work, stained-glass and mosaic
making and bookbinding.
In weaving, kilim making was particularly developed. Two types of kilim were made: those woven
on horizontal looms and the gobelin-type rugs woven on standing looms. Rugs were designed by such
well-known artists as Kazimierz Brzozowski, Franciszek Bruzdowicz, Jozef Czajkowski, Eugeniusz
D^browa D^browski, Karol Tichy, Edward Trojanowski and Jerzy Warchalowski, who as a rule applied
simple geometrical motifs vaguely resembling oriental models, floral patterns (nasturtiums or geraniums)
or else themes in the Art Nouveau style. The same artists also supplied designs for the afore-mentioned
Antonina Sikorska's workshop in Czernichow near Cracow. Kazimierz Mlodzianowski's and Wojciech
Jastrz^bowski's kilims featured rhythmic geometrical motifs in deep blacks, reds, yellows and blues, all
obtained from natural vegetable dyes. A specific branch of textile manufacture was batik cloth — a product
of the Far East, which still often provided a source of inspiration in the Art Nouveau era. Batik production
was started at the Cracow Workshops under the supervision of Warchalowski, who was assisted by the expert
dyers Antoni Buszek and Norbert Okolowicz. The principal colours used were dark blues, rusty reds,
deep reds, whites and yellows, occasionally also browns and greens. Patterns were transposed directly
on the fabric by experienced artists, for example Wojciech Jastrz^bowski, and young girls who quickly
acquired astonishing mastery in applying slightly naive, enchanting motifs of flower vases, horses, roosters
and zigzags. The batik method was employed in decorating small tapestries, table-cloths, shawls and
ribbons, and later also wooden boxes. Batiks were made at the Cracow Workshops up till 1930.
As regards furniture, attempts continued to replace the generally unpopular Art Nouveau with a new
national style. As recommended by Stanislaw Witkiewicz, models were mostly sought in the Zakopane
style, but this too seemed rather dull, even trashy. The type of furniture made at the Cracow Workshops
was simple, functional and unadorned, portending as it were the furniture style which was to come later
in the century.
In artistic pottery, the first decades of the 20th century saw many experiments and a certain interest
in this field on the part of 'true-born' artists, mostly sculptors. Hence the appearance of ceramic sculptured
forms and figures. The leading artists in this domain were Waclaw B^bnowski in Aleksandrow Kujawski,
Maria Mecina-Krzeszowska in Cracow, and Stanislaw Jagmin in Warsaw, who was also a sculptor.
One of the leading producers of pottery was the ceramic factory in Cracow's Debniki district, which in
1900 was bought by Franciszka Kirchmayer for her sons. Its old name, J. Niedzwiedzki and Co., was