Forbidden art
Stained-glass art by Adam Stalony-Dobrzanski returns his name to Ukraine
An exhibit “Creation of the Light – Stained Glass by Adam Stalony-Dobrzanski” opened at the Khlibnia Gallery at the National Sanctuary Sophia of Kyiv. This is the first exhibition to take place as part of the events to celebrate the 1,000th anniversary of the Sophia of Kyiv and in relation to Poland presiding over the EU Council in 2011. Later on the exhibit will be shown in 10 more capitals of other countries.
Stalony-Dobrzanski (painter, graphic artist, art monuments restorer, Ph.D. at the Krakow Academy of Fine Arts) was born in Ukraine. His mother, Hanna Kovalenko, fostered love for Christianity in him. Later he became an artist and created over 200 stained-glass windows, mosaics, frescoes in 50 Orthodox and Catholic churches in Poland. However, since the early 1960s, his name became a taboo. And it lasted over a quarter of century, until 1989, when the era of military communism in Poland was over. His stained-glass windows were even removed from one of the churches. For a long time they were kept at his grandson Jan Pawlicki’s studio. Artist and architect Pawlicki is already well-known to Kyivans, because he carried out the restoration of the silver holy gate at Sophia.
Artistic work at St. Sophia left such a deep impression on Pawlicki’s soul that he wanted to tell Ukrainians about his famous grandfather and bring Stalony-Dobrzanski’s stained-glass windows to our capital. Nelli Kukovalska, director general of the National Sanctuary Sophia of Kyiv, saw them accidentally while visiting Pawlicki’s studio in Krakow. And this finally determined the destiny of the exhibit.
“We have been working towards this show for six years,” says Pawlicki. “After the restoration of the Sophia Kyivska holy gate I realized that I should first show my grandfather’s stained-glass works here, in Kyiv, in his motherland. My grandfather dreamt of me following in his footsteps. I would often help him cutting the cardboard or painting. We worked together for seven years. Maybe, thanks to this I became an artist and architect. I liked grandfather’s works. He created a new area of art by putting stained glass somewhere between painting and sculpture. Though, when my grandfather passed away (I was 27 at that time), I realized that I didn’t have this fire in me that used to light up his soul. That is why I must not continue his work of painting Bible-themed stained-glass windows.
“I think that angels helped me when I was working on the exhibit. My friends and acquaintances are among them: Mother Superior Seraphima, head of Synodal Division of Ukrainian Orthodox Church “Mission Church and Culture”; Michal Bogucki, head of the Icon Museum, a branch of the Warsaw Orthodox Metropolis Museum; Polish singer Mieczyslaw Swiecicki; my son Adam, who has come to Kyiv as well to help with setting up the show, and many more.
The project is organized by the Ministry of Cultire and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland, the National Sanctuary Sophia of Kyiv, and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, while the Polish Institute in Kyiv became the partner of the event.
When the light was turned on in the dark hall, the stained-glass windows burst into a rainbow of colors. The audience went breathless. Well-organized space of the exposition allowed numerous exhibits to be placed in the most apt way in two display halls. The work done by the architect and artists was a success. Stained-glass windows combined into a kind of pillars that were lit up from the inside. Most of the original pieces are up to 15 meters tall. They are represented with colorful photos on glass at the exhibit. But two of the paintings are real: scenes from the life of Saint Catherine and Virgin Mary with Infant Jesus.
Stalony-Dobrzanski was an Abstractionism and Cubism artist. However, he managed to create so much vital power, and such deep psychological images in this geometrical style. How aptly he captured the tenderness Virgin Mary had for Her Baby. And this was done in a painting on the verge of Abstractionism. Even in this modern style (by the way, representatives of church referred to Stalony-Dobrzanski’s stained-glass windows as ‘canonical’), the master was able to show both the feminine beauty and holiness of Virgin Mary.
Bogucki gave a master class, in which he showed the art of making stained-glass. Colorful pieces of glass, which were to be put together to form a picture with the help of a metal frame, were prepared in advance for this class. Everyone who was present at the opening of the exhibit received a color album with photos of Stalony-Dobrzanski’s stained-glass windows.
