Malarska „dwujęzyczność” Jerzego Nowosielskiego. Związki między abstrakcją a ikoną w monumentalnych projektach sakralnych

The sacred art of Jerzy Nowosielski, an outstanding Polish painter of the second half of the 20th century, is an example of the creative continuation of the Byzantine tradition in Poland, but also an embodiment of the debate with the painting tradition of the East and with the experience of the Church. Both in theory and in painting practice, the artist redefined the concept of the icon, attempting to expand its formula so that it not only spoke of the Kingdom, but also included the image of the earthly, imperfect reality of the pilgrim Church. In his designs of sacred interiors for churches of various Christian denominations, Nowosielski wanted to combine three theological disciplines and their respective ways of representation: Christology, sophiology and angelology. Beside a classical icon, called by the painter a “Christological- Chalcedonian” icon, Nowosielski demanded a “sophiological” icon, bringing into the space of a church an earthly, painful reality, traces of inner struggle and doubt – hence the presence of doloristic motifs in his icons. The “inspired geometry” also became a complement to the holy images; the artist noticed a huge spiritual potential in abstract painting, to which he eventually assigned the role of icon painting. The poetic concept of “subtle bodies” – abstract angels testifying to the reality of the spiritual world – drew from the early Christian theological thought, which argued about the corporeality of spiritual entities, from Byzantine angelology, the tradition of theosophy and occultism, but also from the art of the first avant-garde, especially that from Eastern Europe, which inherited the Orthodox cult of the image. Nowosielski’s bilingualism as a painter – practicing abstraction and figuration in tandem, including within the church – paralleled the liturgical practice of many religious communities using different languages to express different levels of reality: human affairs and divine affairs. The tradition of apophatic theology, proclaiming the truth about the “unrepresentability” of God, was also important in shaping Nowosielski’s ideas. For Nowosielski’s monumental art, the problem of the mutual relationship between painting and architecture proved crucial. The artist based his concept on the decisive domination of painting over architecture and the independence of monumental painting. His goal was the principle of creating a sacred interior as a holistic, comprehensive vision of space which leads the participants of liturgy “out of everyday life” and into a different, transcendent dimension, in which the painter saw the main purpose of sacred art. From his first projects from the 1950s till the end of his artistic practice Nowosielski tried to realize his own dream version of the “ideal church”. In many of his projects he introduced abstraction into the temple, covering the walls, vaults, presbyteries, sometimes even the floors with a network of triangular “subtle bodies”. Forced to compromise, he introduced sacred abstraction into murals, as accompanying geometries, or into stained glass windows. The interiors, comprehensively and meticulously planned, were supposed to create the effect of “passing through”, “rending the veil” – from behind which a new, heavenly reality dawned. In practice, it was not always possible to achieve this intention, but the artist’s aim was to create an impression of visual unity, a sense of “entering the painting”, of being immersed in the element of painting. Painting in space was supposed to unite a broken world, to combine physical and spiritual reality into an integral whole. When designing sacred interiors, Nowosielski used the sanctity of the icon, but also the pure qualities of painting which were to cause a “mystical feeling of God’s reality”. The aim of sacred art understood in such a way turned out to be initiation rather than teaching. In this shift of emphasis Nowosielski saw the only chance for the revival of sacred art, postulating even a shift of the burden of evangelization from verbal teaching to the work of charismatic art.

Monumentalne kompozycje z łysogórskich płyt ceramicznych w wystroju budowli sakralnych

Ceramic panels produced since 1960 in the “Kamionka” cooperative in Łysa Góra are one of the most versatile materials used for architectural decorations. They made it possible to create small “ceramic accents” as well as large-scale and monumental works. Compositions made of Łysa Góra panels, at first found mainly in secular buildings, started to appear in church architecture from the mid-1960s. The earliest was the cladding on the facade of the Chapel of the Holy Cross in Piaseczno by Krzysztof Henisz in 1965. The article presents realisations found in Polish and foreign churches. Most of the discussed compositions were created in the period when new rules of organisation resulting from the recommendations of the Second Vatican Council were introduced into church interiors. This important theme is also highlighted in the article. The last mentioned work – the altar wall in Harmęże by Anna Praxmayer – was created in the 21st century, just before the definitive demise of the factory in Łysa Góra.

Przemiany symboliczno-teologicznego znaczenia materii i ich odzwierciedlanie się w estetyce i sztuce chrześcijańskiej

Almost from its very beginning, the faith of the Church incorporated art in its various forms of expression into the process of interpreting its doctrine. Quite quickly the Church included in this process the dogma of creation, i.e. the calling of the world into existence by God. At first, in polemic against ancient Manichaean tendencies, this dogma contributed to a positive view of matter, and thus to the possibility of using it in the realm of religion: since it comes from God, it cannot be an obstacle to worshipping him. Over time, the theme of creation itself was also incorporated into art, above all because it shaped Christian aesthetics, which always in some way reflected the essential elements of the Christian vision of the world and matter: radiance, proportion, harmony. Scholastic theologians in the Middle Ages drew attention to the fact that aesthetics, referring to the creative work of God, can play a supportive role in man’s return to God, thanks to the fact that it lifts his spirit towards the Creator. In the Middle Ages the motif of God the Creator, especially as the Creator of all things, also appeared in art. Under the influence of Enlightenment and positivist tendencies, matter lost its symbolic and theological bearing, becoming only a material made available to man, and thus the motif of creation disappeared from art. This means that there is a need to search for the possibility of including the truth about creation in art.

Semantyka marmuru w teorii i praktyce polskiej rzeźby sakralnej w drugiej połowie XIX wieku

The article is an attempt to present the semantics of marble in the sacred Polish sculpture of Romanticism. Taking as its starting point the modern theory of art, it first emphasizes the special role of white marble in modern sculptural theory and practice, and then outlines the foundation of this judgment in the art of the classicist era, especially in the theory of J.J. Winckelmann. Together with the spread of classical tastes, the significance of this view for Polish modern sculpture is shown, in which, in accordance with Winckelmann’s taste, white marble was perceived as the noblest raw material, worthy of the images of the gods. In the Romantic era, following G. W. Hegel, marble was regarded as “spiritual” stone, the most suitable for the depiction of the sacred. This was expressed in the theory and practice of sculpture by such artists as Cyprian Norwid and Teofil Lenartowicz, who went to Rome – the capital of sacred art – to sculpt in this material. They were followed by other Polish sculptors who also went to Rome to work in marble. The article shows their struggles, which ended successfully only for T.O. Sosnowski. In his works, however, white marble from “animate” stone went on to become material suitable for making repetitive compositions in the spirit of Italian Purism. Marble evolved from being material suitable for the representation of gods to one used for commercial objects, which was perfectly illustrated by Norwid in his short story „Ad leones!”

Burzliwe losy ikonostasów projektu Adama Stalony-Dobrzańskiego oraz ikon Sotyrysa Pantopulosa wykonanych dla katedry prawosławnej pw. Narodzenia Przenajświętszej Bogurodzicy we Wrocławiu oraz cerkwi pw. Narodzenia Najświętszej Marii Panny w Gródku

Contemporary Orthodox church art in Poland is an issue that influences many areas of research. Current research focuses both on the work of individual artists, as well as on new formal solutions used by them, and aimed at enriching the Orthodox tradition. Apart from Jerzy Nowosielski and Adam Stalony-Dobrzański, who contributed to the renaissance of Orthodox church art in Poland, the works of Sotyrys Pantopulos and their correct attribution also deserve more attention. Two sets of icons depicting the Pantocrator and the Virgin Mary painted in 1969 by Pantopulos for the iconostasis designed by Stalony-Dobrzański for the Orthodox Cathedral of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God in Wrocław and the Orthodox Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Gródek near Białystok are examples of this. For many years their authorship was mainly attributed to Stalony-Dobrzański. Today, both pairs of icons found a secondary location as a result of the reconstruction of an iconostasis (Gródek, 1995) or its dismantling (Wrocław, 2019) – in this case, according to the opinion of the church’s custodians, as a structure that does not meet the requirements of the Orthodox liturgy. For that reason art historians have an urgent task to bring the importance of these works to public attention, and ultimately to have them entered into the heritage register. It appears that this is the only chance to preserve this legacy in an unchanged condition.