Katarzyna Chrudzimska-Uhera (PDF)
https://doi.org/10.53631/DIS/2017.8.1
The colonies of artists spread throughout Europe, and by the turn of the century (1890–1914), they were experiencing their greatest expansion and growth. Defining the phenomenon of artists’ colonies is no easy task, as they were a complex cultural phenomenon encompassing various fields of creativity. The artists’ colony had its genesis in the Romantic breakthrough in the 18th century, which propagated a new attitude towards nature and the concept of nature education developed by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Soon, nature, especially mountains, was recognised as a habitat of peace, virtue and freedom, bestowing physical and moral revival on its denizens.
The first explorers in the 19th century to reach Zakopane, the peripheral centre at the foot of the Tatra Mountains, were romantically enthralled by nature. Subsequently, the medics arrived, and they found that the climate in the region was suitable for treating tuberculosis. Soon, enthusiasts and experts in construction, ornamentation and artisanal handicrafts were showing up among the incoming tourists and patients. However, the chief contributor to the mythologisation of Zakopane was the painter and art critic Stanisław Witkiewicz Senior, who established the rules of the Zakopane style.
Keywords: Romantics, modernism, primitivism, Polish art, Stanisław Witkiewicz