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The building of the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts, currently Zachęta National Gallery of Art - Zabytek.pl

The building of the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts, currently Zachęta National Gallery of Art


public building 1898-1903 Warszawa

Address
Warszawa, Plac Stanisława Małachowskiego 3

Location
woj. mazowieckie, pow. Warszawa, gm. Warszawa

The Warsaw seat of the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts (currently the Zachęta National Gallery of Art) constitutes the leading example of representational architecture of the late 19th and the early 20th century.

Built in the late historicist style, the building is one of the most spectacular works of the architect Stefan Szyller and a monument for the Polish museology.

History

In September 1894 the Committee of the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in the Kingdom of Poland announced the first competition for the development of the plot at Ewangelicki Square (currently: Małachowskiego Square). The jury selected a design prepared by Stefan Szyller, for whom this victory was the first important independent competition success. However, the design in the Renaissance Revival style, with elements of the so-called Polish Renaissance, was not put into execution. The Committee ordered modifications and later approved the new plans prepared by Szyller (1896). In that year a neighbouring parcel was taken over and a new competition for a larger building was called. Szyller won again. The construction of the front building began in September 1898 and was completed on 16 December 1900. In 1901 the side (south) wing of the building began to be erected and the construction works were finished on 15 October 1903. Szyller also designed another two wings of the building as well as a cloistered courtyard, but these concepts were not executed in practice. The Zachęta building was enthusiastically received by the critics and reinforced Szyller’s professional acclaim. Until World War II the building was owned by the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts - the main patron of Polish artists and the institution with a huge contribution to the Polish culture. On 16 December 1922 President Gabriel Narutowicz was shot dead at Zachęta. During the acts of war in the years 1939-1945 the building was slightly damaged and in the years 1946-1948 it was subject to major renovation. At the dawning of the People’s Republic of Poland the building was nationalised and ordered to serve as a seat of the Central Art Exhibitions Bureau. In the 1980s the construction of north and west wings, designed by Feliks Dzierżanowski, began. The extension closed the rectangular body of the building, in line with Szyller’s initial concept. The works lasted until the 1990s. Since 1989 the building has been home to the State Art Gallery Zachęta, transformed into Zachęta National Gallery of Art in 2003.

Description

A free-standing building occupies a plot at Małachowskiego Square and adjoins Królewska Street from the north. There is a small green square in front of the building to the east. The building was built on a parallelogram floor plan which approximates the shape of a square with truncated corners. In the front (east) and south parts the building has three storeys, while at the north and west it has four storeys. Its style is akin to the Italian Renaissance Revival. The sumptuousness of applied formal means (architectural details) emphasize the building’s prestige. The façades of two lower plinthed storeys (basement and ground floor) are adorned with rustication. Ionic columns were placed between the windows of the second floor. The façades were articulated with Corinthian pilasters in the giant order. They support a simple entablature crowned with a low parapet with acroterions on corners. A three-axial, central projection is found before the nine-axial regular façade, thus creating a recessed portico with stairs leading to the interior of the building. A massive portico rests on a pair of Corinthian columns and on a pair of pillars in the same style. The entablature contains an inscription “ARTIBUS” (Latin for to the arts). The composition is crowned with a corbelled pediment with a relief sculpted by Zygmunt Otto (an allegory of art). The openings (except for the first and last storey) terminate in semicircular arches. The south façade is simplified compared to the front façade. The tripartition has been preserved, but there are no windows on the third storey. Instead, three rectangular panels were introduced. On the north façade an analogical scheme was introduced, with openings on all storeys and without panels. The rear (west) façade is nine-axial. The windows and doorways are set asymmetrically. The third storey features the same panels as in the south façade. Stylistic inconsistencies, resulting from two phases of the construction process, are evident.

Author of the note Wojciech Głowacki 23-02-2016

Bibliography

  • Record sheet, Gmach Towarzystwa Zachęty Sztuk Pięknych, prepared by Konopacki A., 1989, Archive of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Warsaw.
  • Omilanowska M., Architekt Stefan Szyller 1857-1933, Warsaw 2008.

Category: public building

Architecture: nieznana

Building material:  brick

Protection: Register of monuments, Monuments records

Inspire id: PL.1.9.ZIPOZ.NID_N_14_BK.190250, PL.1.9.ZIPOZ.NID_E_14_BK.38103