Society for the Promotion of Fine Arts (Warsaw)

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Depiction of a fresco by Wojciech Gerson for the TZSP exhibition hall in the former St. Bernard monastery in Warsaw. The allegorical representation of science, created in 1870, was part of a series of frescoes (poetry, science, art, ambition, balance) that was destroyed in the Second World War
The Zachęta Gallery in Warsaw in front of the dome of the Trinity Church and the Palace of Culture
Removal of works of art by German troops after taking over the Zachęta Gallery on July 3, 1944

The Society for the Promotion of the Fine Arts (also: Society of Friends of Fine Arts , Polish Towarzystwo Zachęty Sztuk Pięknych , initially: Towarzystwo Zachęty Sztuk Pięknych w Królestwie Polskim , short form: TZSP ) in Warsaw was an organization of artists and art lovers to promote Polish art and artist. The company was founded in 1860 and existed until the beginning of World War II in 1939.

history

Before 1860 there were no public museums for painting , libraries or other generally accessible institutions in Warsaw that would have enabled an exchange between visual artists . In addition, repression after the November uprising made a higher artistic education almost impossible. The last major exhibition took place in 1845.

After protests by the artists in the 1850s, the Wystawa Krajowa Sztuk Pięknych (German: National Exhibition of Fine Arts) in the Mokronowski Palace was finally approved in 1858 . This exhibition was initiated by Alfred Schouppe , Wojciech Gerson and Marcin Olszyński . In the course of this exhibition negotiations with the Russian rulers took place, which ultimately led to the approval of the establishment of a society for the promotion of the fine arts in October 1860. The model for this institution was the Society of Friends of the Fine Arts in Krakow , which was founded in 1854 . Aleksander Lesser and Ksawery Kaniewski were involved as founders, as were Wojciech Gerson, Alfred Schouppe and Marcin Olszyński.

Society for the Promotion of Fine Arts

The company's statutes were drawn up jointly by art lovers and artists. On December 13, 1860, the first general assembly and election of the board took place, which then took up its activities. The election of the board, which comprised 12 members and consisted of six artists and art connoisseurs, took place annually. The members remained in office for at least one month and a maximum of one year. The first board of directors included Karol Beyer , Leon Dembowski, Rafał Hadziewicz , Konstanty Hegel , Ksawery Kaniowski , Justynian Karnicki, Juliusz Kossak , Aleksander Lesser, Alfred Schouppe, Józef Simmler and January Suchodolski . Important later board members were Henryk Dobrzycki , Jan Fryderyk Heurich and the lawyer Lucjan Dobrzycki.

The goals of the society were above all the spread of the fine arts as well as the promotion and support of the artists. In 1860 the society had 234 members. In the following year it was already 1464. The exhibition space changed; so the former Warsaw Bernardine monastery and from 1894 the inner courtyard gallery of the Potocki Palace were used. The individual works were initially exhibited until they were sold. In fact, this quickly led to full walls and an uneven, permanent exhibition. In the period from 1900 to 1939 there were therefore fundamental changes and the permanent exhibition only took place in addition to otherwise changing exhibitions.

20th century

In 1900, after a long preparation time with the construction of zachęta by Stefan Szyller a permanent, private exhibition and conference venue has created. An annual "Salon of Painting" has been held since 1904. In addition to exhibition catalogs , the regular Przewodnik magazine was also published .

The long-time president of the society in the interwar period was the journalist and university professor Stanisław Brzeziński. The openings of exhibitions were often made by prominent politicians, and the President of Poland, Ignacy Mościcki , took part in such events several times. The company supported the establishment of the Historical Museum in Warsaw and equipped it with part of its own collection.

Because of the conservative promotion and exhibition policy of the TZSP, an increasing number of artist groups and associations emerged at the beginning of the 20th century who also wanted to give modern art forms the opportunity to develop. They did not feel represented by society; this included the groups "Sztuka" , "Młoda Polska" and " Bunt ".

World War II and post-war period

During the Second World War, the Zachęta Gallery was occupied by German troops during the occupation and the Society for the Promotion of Fine Arts was dissolved. The company's collections and documents were either transferred to the National Museum in Warsaw or confiscated and taken to Germany as looted property .

Society was not reactivated after the war. In its place the stepped from the 1949 Department of Arts and Culture at the request of the Association of Fine Arts of Poland founded Centralne Biuro Wystaw Artystycznych (German: Central Bureau of Art Exhibitions). In 1990 another Society for the Promotion of the Visual Arts Zachęta (Towarzystwo Zachęty Sztuk Pięknych przy Galerii Zachęta) was established, which is now responsible for running the museum in the Galeria Zachęta.

Members (artists, selection)

The exhibited artists and scholarship holders of the TZSP included:

Web links

Commons : Society for the Advancement of Fine Arts  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

References and comments

  1. ^ Alfred Schouppe (1812–1899) was a Polish painter. He specialized in landscape painting and was one of the first painters of the Tatras . He also painted churches and illustrated travel guides. He also managed the family property at Pilica and worked as an employee at the Warsaw City Credit Company
  2. ^ Marcin Olszyński (1829–1904) was a Polish painter, photographer and publicist
  3. ↑ album dedykowany Alfredowi Schouppe w zbiorach Muzeum Narodowego . Dzieje.pl, January 11, 2011; accessed October 10, 2012 (Polish)
  4. ↑ Wiedza i życie , Volume 25. Towarzystwo Uniwersytetu Robotniczego i Ludowego (ed.), Publisher: Towarzystwo Wiedzy Powszechnej w Warszawie, 1958, p. 481
  5. ↑ Polskie życie artystyczne w latach 1945-1960 , Volume 1. Polska Akademia Nauk, Pracownia Plastyki Współczesnej, Publisher: Zakład Narodowy im, Ossolińskich 1992 p. 281 (Polish)
  6. ^ Antoni Knot: Roczniki biblioteczne. Organ Naukowy Bibliotek Szkoł Wyższych , Issue 3–4. Publisher: Państwowe Wydawn, Naukowe 1970, p. 700
  7. ^ Andrzej Rottermund, Marek Wrede, Andrzej Sołtan: 200 lat muzealnictwa warszawskiego. Dzieje i perspektywy , materials for a scientific forum on 16. – 17. November 2005 in the Royal Castle of Warsaw. Publisher: Arx Regia, 2006, ISBN 978-83-7022-160-7
  8. ↑ Andrzej Ryszkiewicz: Malarstwo polskie. Romantyzm, historyzm, realizm , Volume 6. Auriga, 1989, ISBN 83-221-0384-0 , p. 40 (Polish, accessed October 11, 2012)
  9. ↑ zacheta.art.pl ( Memento of the original from September 14, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Zachęta Gallery (accessed October 10, 2012)  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.zacheta.art.pl
  10. ↑ The building is located at Krakowskie Przedmieście 66 and is now the seat of the Central Agricultural Library .
  11. ↑ Entry on Worldcat

Coordinates: 52 ° 14 ′ 22 ″  N , 21 ° 0 ′ 41 ″  E