The International Exhibition of Decorative Art and Design was organised one hundred years ago in Paris. It was the first time since Poland regained its independence that Poland could show off its artistic achievements in design on such a scale. Poland’s elegant pavilion attracted visitors and some of the exhibits won international acclaim. To mark the centenary of the event, we have collected archive photos, which were originally in black and white. However, we prepared colour versions of the photos, helped by artificial intelligence. Here is Polish design from the inter-war period in colour.
Colourising archive photographs is not an easy task. It takes specialists hundreds of hours. They have to reconcile facts, determine original colours by going back to historical sources. Artificial intelligence significantly shortens this process, but it is not perfect. There was no shortage of slip-ups when working with AI. For example, the artificial intelligence gave the Polish flag that was flying in front of the pavilion a white and blue colour. So we discarded the extreme versions, leaving only those that could reflect reality in an optimal way.
The International Exhibition of Decorative Arts and Design opened in Paris on 28 April 1925 and ran until October of that year. It is from the French name of the event (French: Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs et industriels modernes) that the term art déco style is derived. The exhibition was originally scheduled to be held in 1915, but was postponed due to the First World War. The French were very keen to organise it. They wanted to show the whole world that they were leading the way in culture, art and architecture. Up to 16 million people were expected to come to the French capital for the event.
The Polish Pavilion was designed by Józef Czajkowski, who wanted to combine the then modern art déco style with the style characteristic of classical Polish manor houses with elements of the Zakopane style, i.e. to present an original national style. The result was a soaring structure with a crystal tower. In 1925, a journalist from “Nowosci Ilustrowanych” described what he saw on site in the following way:
We are dumbfounded by the noise of a multi-million dollar city and intimidated by gigantic buildings (…) and stand amazed before a crystal phenomenon. What is it? With a trembling heart we read the inscription “Republique Polonaise”. Here stands before us an immaculately white palace, a lightweight marshmallow wonder (…). Astonishing in its harmony and classicism of shape. (…) The crystalline wonder (…) gives the impression of a wonderful country church. [News Illustrated, no. 36, 1925].
Józef Czajkowski deliberately opted for a glass tower. This was appreciated by visitors who viewed the pavilion in the evening. At night, the tower shone like a beacon, proudly reminding visitors of its presence.
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In the evenings, crowds flock to the pavilion to admire the lighting, architecture, paintings and dancing highlanders led by Helena Roj-Rytardová and an orchestra led by Mróze and Bartek Obrochta. Thesimple and pretty benches in the walls of the atrium are similar to chalets; it is very pleasant to sit on them in the evenings, breathing in the atmosphere of Poland enchanted within these walls,” wrote the poet Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz in Wiadomości Literackie (No. 25, 1925).
I consider the Polish Pavilion to be the most original and finished of all foreign pavilions. It constitutes an excellent unity and is equally Polish without ceasing to be modern, ‘ he wrote in 1925. Waldemar George, editor-in-chief of the monthly L’Amour de l’Art, a French art critic of Polish origin.
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The pavilion featured furniture, wallpaper designs, ceramics, figurines and artworks inspired by folklore. The whole range of Polish heritage was on display. Designs for large buildings, kilims, wooden toys by Zofia Stryjeńska, sculptures by students of the Zakopane School of Wood Industry, lace, illustrations, posters or embroideries by the Warsaw “Ars” cooperative were all on show.
The website Dzieje.pl recalls the text by Iwona L. Konieczna of the Polish Press Agency, who pointed out that the exhibition was criticised by many Poles. Most often they pointed to the mishmash of works presented there.
The pre occupationwith folklore can lead to such absurdities as decorating Polish locomotives with, for example, motifs from the Łowicz region (!) – wrote Teresa Żarnowerówna and Mieczysław Szczuka in the 10th issue of the magazine “Blok” (April 1925).
There are also several tree sculptures, small in size but so brutally, ineptly hideous that Warsaw’s monument of gratitude to America could stand before them as a work of Praxiteles in the face of Jesus the Sorrowful, carved with a scythe by an illiterate shepherd boy. There are something three tree carving. It could be the Virgin Mary, encircled by angel heads, a lingerie-weaving magician, or a girl at a flower well. What do you prefer? (…) All together small, flimsy, uncultured. (…) We were depressed, depressed, ashamed. (…) Why should we present ourselves like some cavemen, wretches and illiterates, ” wrote Jan Zamoroski in the Kurjer Poznański on 26 May 1925.
The courtyard of the pavilion was decorated with the sculpture ‘Rhythm’ by Henryk Kuna. The sculpture lived to see four versions, and one of them can be seen today in Skaryszewski Park in Warsaw:
However, Poland’s participation was quite a success. The Polish exhibition received nearly 200 awards. The Grand Prix was awarded to Jan Szczepkowski for his Christmas shrine. Graphic artist and painter Zygmunt Kaminski received an award for his design of the new Polish banknotes. Four Grand Prix prizes went to Zofia Stryjeńska.
The International Exhibition of Decorative Arts and Design, held in Paris, was an opportunity to showcase a new lifestyle, the richness of the world entering the 20th century. Among the novelties on display was a modular single-family house with a mezzanine floor designed by Le Corbusier.
source: National Digital Archive, Dzieje.pl, Muzeum-Szczepkowskiego.pl
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