03/2023

Łukasz Sarnat Expression. Rococo sculpture in Lviv.

exibition Expression. Rococo sculpture in Lviv / Wawel Royal Castle / march 2023
exhibition design / Łukasz Sarnat

 

 

curators: Joanna Pałka, Agata Dworzak

concept of exhibition arrangement, detailed design, author's supervision project manager: Łukasz Sarnat

project manager: Joanna Kazubowska / project implementation: team under the direction of  Andrzej Głowacz

 


The Wawel exhibition is a presentation of works by Johan Georg Pinsel and those belonging to his workshop by Maciej and Piotr Polejowski. They are the creators of the so-called Lvov rococo sculpture, considered a unique phenomenon in the history of Polish modern art. Researcher of Pinsel's work and long-standing director of the Wawel Royal Castle, Prof. Jan Ostrowski, because of the specific naturalism and expressionism derived from the late Gothic, describes the artist as the artistic great- grandson of Wit Stwosz and the most outstanding sculptor in Polish art between Stwosz and Dunikowski. 

 

The exhibition's substantive and formal axis is formed by polychrome and gilded sculptures (Abraham's sacrifice, Samson tearing the lion's mouth open, the Virgin Mary with an ornamental console supporting her, St. John, angels on pedestals, Christ) from the parish church in Hodovitsa near Lviv, designed and built in 1751-1758 by Bernard Meretyn. The building fell into disrepair in the 1960s, but its furnishings were secured through the efforts of the Lviv National Art Gallery, and since the 1990s have been exhibited in the Johann Georg Pinsel Museum in the former Poor Clares Church in Lviv. The works have also been exhibited at the Louvre in Paris and the Winter Palace in Vienna, among others. The Wawel exhibition is also an expression of support for the struggling Ukraine, intended to help secure and save priceless heritage from destruction. 

The premise of the presentation, realised in two temporary exhibition halls on just over 100 m2, was to refer to the original composition of the altarpiece. The triangular arrangement with the dominant figure of Christ and the groups of Abraham and Samson in the three apexes was fitted into the 5.90 cm high room. The dynamic form of the works and the brilliance of the gilding and polychromy hinted at the wall finish: a neutral background of matt velvet in two shades tightly covering the walls of both rooms and all the platforms and displays. The only exception was a section of wall in the 2nd hall, which was used for a large-format enlargement of a monochrome photograph showing a dramatic contemporary view of the church as a ruin, providing the backdrop for the display of the surviving elements of the cultured pulpit. The platforms and plinths on which the objects were presented were also used to discreetly illuminate the signatures printed on a semi-transparent medium from behind, allowing the texts to be made legible when the works themselves were brought out into the light. Variable lighting completed the effect. A palette of lighting scenes was programmed, bringing individual figures and altar groups out of the darkness to show the entire composition at the end. Presented in a subdued setting and accompanied by Baroque music, the performance was intended to emphasise the mastery, dynamism, and expressiveness - the mystical beauty of the works.

 

foto: Wojtek Kapela