Malachowskiego 3 Place
OPENING DATE: unknown
The café, located in the basement of the building of the Towarzystwo Zachęty Sztuk Pięknych [Pol. Society of Fine Arts], was launched by men of letters and visual artists of the time. In the café, besides the artistic shows, painters would set up auctions and sell their works. In “Sztuka” literally all artists living in Warsaw had their exhibitions.
WSPOMNIENIA
the Idea
A number of the Warsaw artistic institutions, mainly the antique shops, art galleries (among others Karol Tchork’s “Nike” at 63 Marszałkowska Street) , and cafés where artists showed and sold their paintings and graphics, provided them with their daily bread. We should add that the artists also decorated the interiors of many cafés and restaurants, and so the owners of those places became patrons of art. In 1939 Spółdzielnia Artystów [Pol. Artists’ Collective] was launched in the Zachęta building with the aim to help friends.
Tomasz Szarota, Okupowanej Warszawy dzień powszedni, Czytelnik, Warszawa 2010.
the Paintings
The sales of the paintings was going great, there was a lot of people coming, almost everyone living in Warsaw would show their works here. They were, among others: Kazimierz Lasocki, Tadeusz Cieślewski (father), Irena Łuczyńska-Szymanowska, Konstanty Mackiewicz. Most popular and liked were the portfolios of Edmund Bartłomiejczyk, Aleksander Sołtan, Stefan Mrożewski, Bogna Krasnodębska-Gardowska, Ludwik Gardowski, Stanisław Ostoi-Chrostowski. All of the artists' works were consigned, and the artistic value of works was the only criteria. Helping each other was the number one aim. Unfortunately, at the end of 1942, the Germans ordered to shut down “Salon Artystów” and the diner.
Tomasz Szarota, Okupowanej Warszawy dzień powszedni, Czytelnik, Warszawa 2010.
Artists' saloon
A diner was set up in the basement. The chairmen of the Collective were Janina Ejsmondowa, widow after Julian, and Michał Boruciński vicepresident, Bronisław Bartel, treasurer, Piotr Perkowski composer, and the accountant, his sister – [Felicja] Krysiewiczowa.
Tomasz Szarota, Okupowanej Warszawy dzień powszedni, Czytelnik, Warszawa 2010.
About the place
On the ground floor and on the 1st floor in three living rooms, current exhibitions were organized, and in the fourth room - retrospectives were shown […].
Tomasz Szarota, Okupowanej Warszawy dzień powszedni, Czytelnik, Warszawa 2010.
