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Object: The façade is adorned with oval ceramic medallions by Hanna Główczewska, depicting elongated female figures dressed in flowing garments. The women carry bowls of food as well as garlands of flowers and fruit. Four medallions are placed beneath the first-floor windows, and three beneath the second-floor windows. Between them, incorporated into the composition, are decorative rectangular panels framed with sgraffito ornamentation, designed by Bernarda Świderska.
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.
Hanna Główczewska (b. 1919 in Płock, d. 1980 in Warsaw) studied law and art history in Warsaw before the war, but abandoned this line of education in favour of artistic creation. She graduated from the State School of Fine Arts (PWSSP) in Gdańsk in 1952. Following her graduation, she participated in the post-war reconstruction effort of Gdańsk and Warsaw. In Warsaw, she worked in Hanna Żuławska’s team, decorating the Marszałkowska Residential District. In Warsaw, she designed, among other things, the mosaic clock on Wilcza Street. Apart from architectural ceramics, she also designed applied and decorative ceramic wares (in Kadyny and Włocławek) as well as garden sculptures. She occasionally also worked with paintings.
Condition of the object: good
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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