“Zakopane, Zakopane!” is an annual project of DESA Unicum dedicated to works with Tatra and highland themes and artists working in this region. This year’s edition is a doubly special event. Firstly, it is carried out in partnership with the Tatra National Park, which celebrates its 70th anniversary this year. Thanks to the established cooperation, it will present unique exhibits related to Walery Eljasz Radzikowski, an artist and pioneer, one of the most important popularizers of Zakopane, which are not available on a daily basis. Secondly, it falls on the hundredth anniversary of the International Exhibition of Decorative Art and Design in Paris, where Polish national art, strongly associated with Podhale, triumphed.
At the exhibition at ul. Piękna 1A in Warsaw, nearly 130 works have been collected, both by the most famous names, such as Zofia Stryjeńska, Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz and Rafał Malczewski, but also by artists working in the 20th century, including: Tadeusz Brzozowski and Marta Gąsienica-Szostak. There were also objects of applied art, including bobsleigh sleds from the end of the 19th century and decorative kilims. Moreover, visitors have the opportunity to see the unique exhibition “Walery Eljasz Radzikowski”, prepared in cooperation with the Tatra National Park.
The painter who paved the way to Morskie Oko
The end of the 19th century was a period of fascination with the nature and landscape of the small settlement of Zakopane and its surroundings. The raw beauty of the Tatra landscapes and the charm of local folklore attracted countless artists, writers and scientists who contributed to the intensive development of the region and its art. One of the key figures, unjustly forgotten today, was Walery Eljasz Radzikowski. A fresh student of the Academy of Fine Arts appeared in Zakopane for the first time in 1861, at the age of only 21, and soon became one of the greatest experts on the Tatra Mountains of his time. As one of the co-founders of the Tatra Society, he selflessly marked out paths and trails, including to Morskie Oko. He supervised their construction and created the first maps. The author of the “Illustrated Guide to the Tatra Mountains, Pieniny and Szczawnica”, published in 1870, made tourists come to the town and dare to go to the mountains with the red book – the Tatra Baedeker. In each of its six editions, the artist published his own panoramic drawings and series of Tatra views with marked peaks, passes and valleys. To pursue his business, he was one of the first arrivals to build a house in the center of Zakopane. On the occasion of this year’s exhibition at DESA Unicum, you can better learn about the history of this unique figure. The specially prepared exhibition will also include a collection of sketches, photographs, archives and preserved correspondence provided by the Tatra National Park.
The Tatra Mountains in the heart and on canvas
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Zakopane style, emanating the spirit of the mountains, mysticism and folklore, entered the scene of Polish art on a grand scale. One of the multitude of artists fascinated by mountain views was a painter, avid mountaineer and professional skiing enthusiast, Rafał Malczewski. The “Podhale Landscape” painted in 1922, presented at DESA Unicum, comes from the best period of the artist’s work. It presents the characteristic features of his panoramas, in which he often played with space and perspective, and also created “landscapes out of time” painted in colors different from those typical of a given season. After the outbreak of World War II, Malczewski was forced to leave his beloved Tatra Mountains, initially moving to Rio de Janeiro, then New York, and finally, in search of painting motifs, settling permanently in Montreal. However, his longing to see the Tatra Mountains accompanied him until the end of his life. After learning about the death of Julian Tuwim in the capital of Podhale, he was said to have said, “How happy he is that he died there.” While living in Canada, he continued painting landscapes, recreating the Podhale panoramas from memory. One of them, “The Peaks of the High Tatras”, can be seen until January 30 at DESA Unicum.
Zakopane art, national art
Once discovered, Zakopane art had a significant impact on the formation of Polish identity. Highland folklore served as a bond that united Poles after years of division between the three partitions and was soon hailed as the national style. Its assumptions were presented in practice a hundred years ago, during the International Exhibition of Decorative Art and Design in Paris. The Polish pavilion designed by Józef Czajkowski combined modernity with the above-mentioned national style, and the marriage of Polish manor houses with elements of Zakopane art resulted in the birth of Polish Art Deco. Despite the criticism, Polish artists returned to the country with as many as 205 awards, including 70 gold medals and 35 Grand Prix. Four of them went to Zofia Stryjeńska, one of the most important figures of the Zakopane art scene. At this year’s exhibition at DESA Unicum, next to four characteristic prints and an interwar kilim, we will find her work “Skiers”, created in the 1940s, most likely to advertise Enrilo coffee for Henryk Franck’s factory Synowie in Skawina.
At the exhibition at ul. Piękna 1A also featured works by Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz. The unique “Muse” presented at DESA Unicum was created in 1922, a period in which the artist implemented his theory of Pure Form in painting, postulating a departure from realism and naturalism. A unique attraction of this year’s exhibition are also three photographs showing the artist, including a frame captured in a bookstore in the company of Nena Stachurska and Tadeusz Zwoliński, as well as a portrait of Witkacy himself, from the “Mines” series, by Józef Głogowski.
Not only 19th century landscapes – contemporary and applied art
Although Zakopane art dates back to the 19th century, Podhale folklore continues to inspire subsequent generations of artists. In the capital of the Tatra Mountains he had his studio, among others. one of the most important representatives of the post-war avant-garde, Tadeusz Brzozowski. The strength of his paintings are the meanings encoded in them. The artist wanted his works to be read like books. The starting point are non-obvious, often funny titles, inviting the recipient to solve an intellectual puzzle. Thus, during this year’s exhibition you can see his canvas “Suit” and the watercolor “Tobacco Taste Delicacy”. The exhibition also included examples of contemporary art from the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries – at DESA Unicum we will see, among others: “Bukowina” by Tomasz Tatarczyk.
However, Zakopane art is not only paintings and graphics. From January 15 to 30 at ul. Piękna 1A in Warsaw, you can also see everyday objects, such as furniture, including Wojciech Brzega’s chair, sculptures from the “Zakopane School”, and elements of tableware, including: plates with a Zakopane ornament from the First National Factory of Plated Products of Marcin Jarra. Winter sports enthusiasts will certainly pay attention to wooden skis and bobsled sleds from the end of the 19th century, and fabric lovers will not be indifferent to large-format kilims, including one created in the 1920s entitled “Taniec Zbójników” by Władysław Skoczylas.
These and many other 128 objects can be viewed from January 15 to 30 at DESA Unicum at ul. Piękna 1A. For those who would like to deepen their knowledge of Zakopane art, January 24 at At 5:30 p.m. there will also be a guided tour of the exhibition, with the special participation of Renata Kowalska from the Tatra National Park. Registration is required for the event.
