Curtain designed by Stanisław Wyspiański
Apart from Henryk Siemiradzki's curtain, the theater also uses a second curtain by Stanisław Wyspiański.
Work on the curtain designed by Stanisław Wyspiański (19th Century) by Stanisław WyspiańskiThe Juliusz Słowacki Theatre in Krakow
The work on creating the curtain was preceded by an analysis of Stanisław Wyspiański's original sketch, both in terms of the construction of compositional details, mutual relations between fragments and separated parts of the composition, and the means of painting used.
Work on the curtain designed by Stanisław Wyspiański (19th Century) by Stanisław WyspiańskiThe Juliusz Słowacki Theatre in Krakow
Then, test sketches were made on paper. The use of the "Wyspiański style" was improved by recreating existing works.
Work on the curtain designed by Stanisław Wyspiański (19th Century) by Stanisław WyspiańskiThe Juliusz Słowacki Theatre in Krakow
Wyspiański's curtain was created using acrylic paints (i.e. natural pigment and acrylic resin) with an appropriate degree of light resistance.
Work on the curtain designed by Stanisław Wyspiański (19th Century) by Stanisław WyspiańskiThe Juliusz Słowacki Theatre in Krakow
And by creating sketches of individual fragments of the project in the target scale of 1:1 in relation to the dimensions of the realized curtain.
Work on the curtain designed by Stanisław Wyspiański (19th Century) by Stanisław WyspiańskiThe Juliusz Słowacki Theatre in Krakow
It was also important to analyze the specificity of colors and pigments, with consideration of the source work, as well as other works by the artist, in order to obtain the optimal color scheme of the curtain.
Work on the curtain designed by Stanisław Wyspiański (19th Century) by Stanisław WyspiańskiThe Juliusz Słowacki Theatre in Krakow
Few people know that in 1892 the author of "Wesele" also entered the competition for the design of the curtain at the Theatre, submitting a work called "Z moich fantazyj".
Work on the curtain designed by Stanisław Wyspiański (19th Century) by Stanisław WyspiańskiThe Juliusz Słowacki Theatre in Krakow
Although the competition was settled and it was won by little-known artists, the curtain was finally ordered from Henryk Siemiradzki.
Curtain designed by Stanisław Wyspiański (19th Century) by Stanisław WyspiańskiThe Juliusz Słowacki Theatre in Krakow
Wyspiański's curtain was created in 2018 and is used interchangeably with the famous curtain by Henryk Siemiradzki, existing for 129 years.
Concept and implementation: Anna Brajner-Guzik
Photographs and video: Grzegorz Mart, Dawid Ścigalski
You are all set!
Your first Culture Weekly will arrive this week.