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Object: This three-bay tenement features exceptionally rich painted decoration. According to Józefa Wnukowa’s recollections, the design was initially intended for a different façade to avoid competing with the meticulously reconstructed neighbouring tenements. The project draws inspiration from the intricate grotesque ornaments, such as those found in the Wawel tapestries. The space between the ground floor and the upper edge of the windows on the top floor is filled with scrollwork, ribbons, heads, busts, caryatids supporting vases and bowls of flowers and fruits, exotic birds, griffins, and lions. Particularly captivating is the female bust with portrait-like features, located to the right of a pair of lions decorating the space between the first and second-floor windows. By 1975, the façade already required extensive conservation. Due to the plaster drying too quickly during the painting process, the pigment did not bond properly with the substrate, leading to it being washed away by rain. At present, the façade urgently requires restoration.
Location: The painted decoration was created as part of an effort by artists – primarily lecturers and students of the State School of Fine Arts in Gdańsk (PWSSP) – to contribute to the reconstruction of Główne Miasto, which had been heavily damaged in 1945. Długa Street and Długi Targ were among the first areas to be rebuilt. The most valuable tenements were faithfully reconstructed, while others were given stylistic adaptations inspired, more or less, by their pre-1945 appearance. These restored façades were intended to serve as a backdrop for the reconstructed historical monuments.
Information about the author: Bernarda Świderska (b. 1921 (?) in Warsaw, d. 2011) graduated from the Faculty of Painting, State School of Fine Arts (PWSSP) in Gdańsk. She led the Textile Studio at her alma mater. Her work encompassed mural painting, easel painting, and artistic textiles. She created numerous interior arrangements for prestigious buildings, including the Ostrogski Palace in Warsaw, the Główne Miasto Town Hall in Gdańsk, Książ Castle, the French President’s palace in La Bruyère, and the Bydgoszcz Philharmonic Hall.
Ryszard Kozakiewicz graduated in painting from the PWSSP in Gdańsk.
Condition of the object: requires renovation
Owner/guardian: private object
Author of the entry: Klaudiusz Grabowski
Sources: Wspomnienia z odbudowy Głównego Miasta, vol. 1, ed. by Izabella Trojanowska (Gdańsk, 1997); Wspomnienia z odbudowy Głównego Miasta, vol. 2, ed. by Izabella Greczanik-Filip (Gdańsk, 1997)
Literature:
Dekoracje architektoniczne Gdańska 1945–1989, vol. 1, Główne Miasto – fresk, sgraffito, mozaika, ceramika, ed. by Jacek Kriegseisen (Gdańsk, 2016)
Jacek Friedrich, ‘Malarstwo monumentalne’, in Akademia Sztuk Pięknych w Gdańsku 1945–2005 (Gdańsk, 2005)
Jacek Friedrich, Odbudowa Głównego Miasta w Gdańsku w latach 1945–1960 (Gdańsk, 2015)
Jacek Friedrich, ‘Wystrój dekoracyjny Drogi Królewskiej w Gdańsku w latach 1953–1955’, Gdańskie Studia Muzealne, Ann. 6 (1995)
Katalog zabytków sztuki w Polsce, Gdańsk Główne Miasto, ed. by Barbara Roll, Iwona Strzelecka (Warsaw, 2006)
Jan Kołodziej, Barbara Brzuszkiewicz, ‘Kształtowanie tożsamości miejsca poprzez konserwację istniejących i wykonanych nowych dekoracji artystycznych dla fasad kamienic odbudowanych po 1945 r. na obszarze Głównego Miasta w Gdańsku’, in Polichromie i sgraffita na fasadach ośrodków staromiejskich odbudowanych po 1945 r. Kreacja i konserwacja, ed. by Anna Jagiellak, Paulina Świątek (Warsaw, 2015)
Anna Kriegseisen, ‘Starogdańskie kamieniczki pełne nowej treści – dekoracje fasadowe czasu odbudowy 1945–1960, czyli technologia w służbie ideologii’, in Gdańsk 1945–1990. Materiały–studia–analizy, vol. 1, ed. Edmund Kizik, Mirosław Golon (Gdańsk–Warszawa, 2017)
Anna Kriegseisen, ‘W poszukiwaniu straconego koloru. Wystrój barwny zachowanych i odbudowanych fasad Głównego i Starego Miasta Gdańska’, in Polichromie i sgraffita na fasadach ośrodków staromiejskich odbudowanych po 1945 r. Kreacja i konserwacja, ed. by Anna Jagiellak, Paulina Świątek (Warsaw, 2015)
Franciszek Mamuszka, Droga Królewska w Gdańsku (Gdańsk, 1972)
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