Stained glass of the future

This is the title of the unique exhibition of stained glass artwork made by a brilliant Polish artist and graphic Adam Stalony-Dobrzanski presented at the Dominican Monastery. The exposition was organized by poet, architect, stage designer, and Dobrzanski’s grandson Jan Pawlicki with the support of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland. It has already been displayed in St. Sophia’s Cathedral, St. Michael’s Church in Odesa, and in Lviv Art Gallery.

“The Creation of Light” is an exhibition of the artist, who in the 20th century revived the art of icons, moving in contrary to his time. Monumental works of Stalony-Dobrzanski – murals, mosaics, and over 200 stained glasses are now kept in more than 50 churches in Poland and in two Ukrainian ones: Dobromyl Church and Greek-Catholic Church in Ternopil.

Stalony-Dobrzanski was born in Ukraine. His mother was a Ukrainian old believer and his father was a Polish Roman Catholic. The artist lived in Ukraine until the age of 19. After the revolution the family moved to Poland, where Adam worked in Catholic school at first, later he graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow and for many years worked as a professor.

“On the one hand, the artist took over all the canons of Byzantine icons, on the other, he combined them with the traditions of Western art – stained glass of Romance and Gothic Western cathedrae of France and Germany. It is amazing how he managed to convey in a modern style all the traditions of sacred art,” said the organizer of the exhibition.

Artist’s works (actual size of the stained glass in churches and cathedrae is 8 to 15 meters) are on a par with the masterpieces of cubism, suprematism, expressionism, and even abstractionism. It is not surprising because Stalony-Dobrzanski learnt from Pablo Picasso, Kazimir Malevich, and Wassily Kandinsky. However, even the photo copies of the stained glass that were brought to Kamianets (2.5 meters) look very impressive and strike with their monumentality, beauty, light, and expression. In addition, the exhibition also includes a part of the artist’s studio, where the audience can see the original sketches of stained glass.

“He figured out how to catch the light and transform it onto a glass,” said Jan Pawlicki. “This is not a traditional canvas. It combines craft and art. Stalony-Dobrzanski is like those artists who were the pioneers of medieval culture. His art in terms of mysticism, power, and energy is similar to the artwork of Byzantine artist of the 14th-15th century Theophanes the Greek, he is an artist of the future, prophet of times.”