The powerful depiction of the Creation has shone
above the entrance to Krakow's basilica of St. Francis’ since
the turn of the last century. The design of Krakow’s artistic and literary genius
Stanislaw Wyspianski (1869-1907), entitled ‘Become!’
but known also as ‘Our
Father’, tops his other outstanding works in the same imposing 13th-century
Romanesque temple.
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Fine
Arts in Krakow
Visual arts have always been Krakow’s forte. Over centuries the city
bred outstanding painters and sculptors or lured them to settle within
its walls.
Medieval
Art
A number of first-rate artists worked in Krakow throughout the
Middle Ages. Even though their names are largely long forgotten
nowadays, their masterpieces often grace the city’s many churches
to date, while most have been transferred to museums. And in the late
15th century Krakow was home to the world’s greatest sculptor of the
Gothic, Veit Stoss (Wit Stwosz). He lived and worked here for nearly
20 years that proved his best, of which dozen, i.e. 1477–1489, he
devoted to create the magnificent 42-foot-high
altarpiece in the basilica of the Virgin
Mary’s.
Renaissance
Art
King Sigismund I
(1506-1548) ruled over
one of Europe’s vastest and mightiest realms of the time, so he
could afford to bring excellent Italian artists, mostly sculptors and
architects, alongside his ambitious Sforza wife to turn his Krakow’s
residence, the Wawel Royal Castle, into an
exemplary Renaissance palace. They settled in Poland’s then capital
to work for the monarch as well as other patrons. And the Wawel
Cathedral’s golden-domed Sigismund Chapel
stands out as their collective work of genius. With time native
artists, such as Jan Michalowicz, matched the Italians they had
learned from. Sigismund I also employed Albrecht Durer’s younger
brother, Hans, as the court painter. King’s son and heir, Sigismund
August (1548-1572), famous among the European royalty for his
collector’s passion, amassed a matchless collection
of Flemish tapestries. He also brought fabulous sculptor and
architect Santi Gucci from Florence to Krakow. Yet Krakow’s best
masterpiece of the Renaissance arrived in the city in 1876 when Prince
Czartoryski brought Leonardo da Vinci’s wonderful
‘Lady with an Ermine’ to his museum.
Baroque
art
Krakow is full of spectacular Baroque churches
and palaces of the 17th c. and 18th c. Notably the former brim over
with exquisite period art. Among painters Thomas Dolabella (Della
Bella) stood out–the Venice-educated artist had already secured
commissions from the Doges’ Palace when in 1598 Polish king lured
him to Krakow. Here he lived the next 50 years painting hundreds of
portraits and large-scale realistic scenes for the monarch and the
church. His immense works are most readily accessible (despite poor
exposition) in the Dominican basilica and the Franciscan basilica,
facing one another in Krakow’s Old Town
historic district. At the turn of the 18th c. also Italian-born
Balthasar Fontana adorned some Krakow prestigious interiors with
excellent decorations, elaborate and rich, most adeptly sculptured in
stucco.
The
19th-century
art
In the first half of the 19th century Krakow was an artistic
backwater, four Thordvaldsen’s works in its Wawel
Cathedral notwithstanding. Small wonder one of the country’s
greatest talents ever remained largely unnoticed. His contemporaries
knew Piotr Michalowski (1800-1855) as a wealthy aristocrat, skillful
administrator, laudable civil servant of the Grand
Duchy of Krakow, and amateur painter who once indulged in
four-year Paris studies in ateliers of famed French artists. It took
two generations to recognize in him an outstanding European painter of
the romantic era.
In the second half of the same century Krakow’s Jan Matejko
(1838-1893) gained immediate international renown when he was awarded
the golden medal of the 1865 Paris Salon, his first in an array of
similar trophies, and publicly praised by the likes of Gautier. His
giant and meticulously enacted, almost cinematic renderings of the
most dramatic moments in Poland’s history dominated the Krakow art
scene till the 1890s.
Art
of the turn of the-20th century
In the 1890s Krakow saw an eruption of talent, when an
awesome gang of painters, sculptors, poets and writers formed the
Young Poland movement, the native branch of the Art Nouveau, to
revolutionized the Polish art. Among them Stanislaw Wyspianski
(1869-1907) stood out as towering artistic and literary genius. He
painted remarkable landscapes and striking portraits, designed
inventive layouts and furniture as well as visionary architecture and
interiors, wrote drama masterpieces and profuse poetry, and fused
stagecraft, literature, music, scenery and costumes into total theater
experience. Yet most impressive–and comprehensible to
foreigners–are his majestic stained-glass
windows and frescoes such as those realized in Krakow’s church
of St Francis’.
The
20th-century art
In the first half of the past century some best Krakow
painters shuttled between the native city and France where they were
part to the Paris artistic scene. No wonder their output often matched
closely the newest fads. Those of the younger ones who settled on the
Seine for good formed the core of the Ecole de Paris group.
Others returned to Krakow to start the ‘kolorysci’
(colorists) school that was to dominate the Polish painting well into
the 1960s when the ‘Grupa Krakowska’ (Krakow Group) loose
alliance of aspiring avant-garde artists took the center stage.
The
best collection of Krakow's art of the 20th century is exhibited in
the main gallery of the Krakow National Museum at 1, 3 Maja
street.
The main gallery of the Krakow National
Museum, 3 Maja street at Mickiewicza street, contains the best
collection of the 20th-century Polish art.
Contemporary
art in Krakow
The
city boasts thousands of active artists, produced every year by
Krakow's renowned Academy of Fine Arts, and scores of art
galleries; yet it still lacks a museum
dedicated solely to contemporary art. Also temporary exhibitions of
new art aren't many. The central institution promoting contemporary
art is Bunkier Sztuki (Bunker of Art) gallery,
3 Plac Szczepanski square at Planty gardens.
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