Teodor and Franciszek Gajewski | |
|---|---|
 Franciszek (left), Teodor (right) | |
| Born | January 30, 1897 (Franciszek), May 30, 1902 (Teodor) |
| Died | April 17, 1969 (aged 72) (Franciszek), November 7, 1948 (aged 46) (Teodor) |
| Resting place | Bydgoszcz, Polish People's Republic |
| Nationality | Polish,  Poland |
| Awards |  (Franciszek) |
Brothers Teodor and Franciszek Gajewski were sculptors and painters, who lived in Bydgoszcz, Poland in the 20th century.
Both brothers were born in Bydgoszcz: Franciszek on January 30, 1897, and Teodor on May 30, 1902. Their father Teofil was a shoemaker, their mother was Antonina née Relka. [1]
Franciszek attended elementary school in Bydgoszcz. He was drafted in the Imperial German Army; in 1916, he fought on the western front and fell into captivity in Belgium. [2]
Teodor attended primary school in Bydgoszcz. Having joined the scouts movement at 15, he actively participated in 1917 in the local recruitment and training campaigns. [3]
Released in 1918, Franciszek volunteered in Józef Haller's Polish Army in France: [2] he returned to Poland in 1919. In 1920, Franciszek took part in Polish–Soviet War. During this period, he had his studio in the attic of the Bydgoszcz Museum, overlooking the Old Market Square. [4]
After the outbreak of Greater Poland uprising, Teodor acted in the underground. He participated in the campaign of acquiring weapons, sending volunteers, collecting information about German troops and Grenzschutz Ost elements. The Grenzschutz was a paramilitary voluntary formation operating on the eastern frontiers of the Weimar Republic together with Freikorps and Selbstschutz.
He spent his military service period (1924-1925) in the 8th Mounted Rifle Regiment (Polish : 8 Pułk Strzelców Konnych), in Chełmno. [1]
Teodor died on October 7, 1948, at the Tadeusz Browicz Hospital for Infectious Diseases, in Świętego Floriana Street, Bydgoszcz. He lived at Garbary Street 23, [1] in Okole district. He was buried at the Catholic Cemetery of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, in Szwederowo district, Bydgoszcz.
Franciszek spent the years of war in Bydgoszcz. After the liberation, he joined the mainstream of artistic life. He lived at Nowodworska street 25, [1] in Szwederowo district. He died on April 17, 1969, in Bydgoszcz. Like his brother, Franciszek was buried at the Catholic Cemetery of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, in Bydgoszcz.
In the early 1920s, he studied at the State School of Artistic Industry under the supervision of professors Bronisław Bartel, Leon Dołżycki, Karol Mondral and Antoni Procajłowicz.
He was characterized by a great creative commitment. His favorite themes were flowers, female nudes, still lifes. [5] Furthermore, he depicted many city architectures, from Pomerania but essentially from Bydgoszcz. In this vein, Franciszek left many paintings and drawings of the city, portraying particularly the Bydgoszcz Venice near Mill Island. He painted Bydgoszcz nooks and crannies at different times of the day and night. [6]
He first exhibited his works in 1926 at the City Museum. In 1937 and 1938, he received the Bydgoszcz City Prize and several of his works were purchased by the City Hall. He was a member of the Association of Polish Artists and Designers (Polish : Związek Polskich Artystów Plastyków, ZPAP) and the Artistic and Cultural Council of Bydgoszcz (Polish : Rada Artystyczno-Kulturalna w Bydgoszczy). In 1931, the Gajewskis and Piotr Triebler took part in a competition for the design of the Monument to the Fallen Poles (soldiers of the 1st Polish Division) who died in July 1918 in the fields of Champagne, France. Franciszek received the second prize for this project to be erected in Saint-Hilaire-le-Grand's cemetery, for which he designed the gate and fences. [7]
After WWII, Franciszek re-joined the Bydgoszcz Branch of the ZPAP. He participated in regional and national exhibitions.
In 1950, he won the first prize of the city of Bydgoszcz (painting department) in a competition dedicated to "The beauty of Bydgoszcz in picture and graphics". In 1958, he was awarded the Bydgoszcz art award for lifetime achievement. [2] The City Museum organized exhibitions of his works in 1958 and in 1969 (after his death).
Franciszek had a stormy temperament associated with a profound sense of artistic achievement. His dissatisfaction sometimes drove him to destroy his works, considering them imperfect or of unworthy. Hence many of his drawings have been lost or damaged. [4]
In 1920-1923, he followed the path of his brother at the State School of Artistic Industry, but in the sculpture department. His professors were sculptors Jan Wysocki and Feliks Giecewicz.
After his military service, he returned in 1925 to Bydgoszcz. Together with his friend Piotr Triebler, also a graduate of the State School of Artistic Industry, he ran a sculpture and stonemason's workshop, located at 13 Królowej Jadwigi Street. Later they moved to 94 Dworcowa street in Bydgoszcz. [8] It was the only atelier of this kind in Poznań and Pomerania. There, they realized sculptures, tombstones in bronze, wood or marble.
He was a multi-talented activist and organizer of the art movement in Bydgoszcz. In 1932, he co-founded of the Pomeranian Artists Group. Like Franciszek, he was a member of the Artistic and Cultural Council of Bydgoszcz. In 1931, Teodor won the first prize in the competition for the design of the Monument to the Fallen Poles in Aubérive's cemetery. [7]
As an artist, Teodor most often used wood and plaster. He presented his works at exhibitions in Bydgoszcz, Poznań, Toruń and Warsaw. In Bydgoszcz, he co-created with Piotr Triebler in 1932 the Statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus made from sandstone from Szydłowiec: [3] destroyed during the Second World War, a copy stands today in Seminaryjna Street. Teodor additionally designed in 1935 a monumental cross erected in Szwederowo district.
Some of his works were purchased by the City Museum, while many others were acquired by private amateurs, mainly residents from Bydgoszcz, Gniezno, Poznań, Szczecin or Warsaw.
A large collection of his works (drawings, watercolors, oil works) is in the Leon Wyczółkowski Regional Museum in Bydgoszcz.
Among his many city views, one can cite:
Small works:
Teodor was the creator of larger monuments:
The Hotel Brda was a 3-star hotel located in the center of Bydgoszcz, at the junction of Dworcowa and Śniadecki Streets. It was closed in December 2019.
The building of the Mechanical School in Bydgoszcz is a historic public edifice, serving educational purposes, located at 37 Świętej Trójcy Street, in downtown. It is registered on the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship Heritage List.
St. Martin and St. Nicholas Cathedral, or simply known as Bydgoszcz Cathedral, is a Catholic church built in the 15th century. It has a Gothic style, serves as a parish church and cathedral of the Diocese of Bydgoszcz. It also houses a shrine dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Its address is 10 Farna Street.
The sculpture The Archer stands in the Jan Kochanowski Park in Bydgoszcz, facing the Polish Theater.
Rudolf Kern was an important designer and builder in Bydgoszcz, at the end of the Prussian period of the city. Most his works have been realized between 1903 and 1914. His artistic style relates to Art Nouveau and Modernism.
Jan Kossowski (1898-1958) was a Polish architect and builder, mainly associated with Bydgoszcz. His professional activity spanned from the interwar period to the 1940s. His artistic style is mainly connected with Modern Architecture.
Bogdan Feliks Raczkowski was an influential engineer, builder and urbanist in Bydgoszcz from the 1920s till the outbreak of World War II.
The Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is a wood and brick Catholic church, located on the southern heights of Bydgoszcz in northern Poland, at 16 Ugory street.
The old water tower is a historic water tower belonging to the municipal water supply network of Bydgoszcz, Poland. Its importance in the local history has been acknowledged in 1986 by a registering on the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship Heritage List.
Szwederowo is a district of the city of Bydgoszcz, Poland, located on its southern territory. Szwederowo population is the second largest of all Bydgoszcz districts.
Seminaryjna street is located between Wilczak, Błonie, Downtown districts in Bydgoszcz, Poland. Laid in the late 1870s, its winding path offer a view on the old town nested down in the Brda river. Many frontages and edifices display architectural and historic interests, one of them is registered on the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship Heritage List.
Piotr Triebler (1898–1952), was a Polish sculptor whose works are associated with Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship in general and with Bydgoszcz in particular.
Marian Turwid-Kaczmarek, also known as Marian Turwid was a Polish writer, painter and cultural activist in Bydgoszcz, and member of the National Committee of the National Unity Front in 1958.
The Leon Wyczółkowski Regional Museum is an ensemble of cultural institutions which have been first created in 1923 in the city of Bydgoszcz, Poland.
Ludwik Regamey (1877-1967) was a Polish construction engineer by trade. He worked in Bydgoszcz where he had a very active associative life as a musician. He was the first chairman of the Alliance Française in Bydgoszcz. After moving to France in 1934, he was a formidable promoter of French and Polish culture exchanges till his demise in 1977, in Toulouse.
Maximilian (Maksymilian) Antoni Piotrowski (1813–1875) was a Polish painter and professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kaliningrad. Additionally, he was a Polish patriot who took part in the national uprisings of the time.
Adam Franciszek Józef Siedlecki or Adam Grzymała-Siedlecki (AGS) (1876–1967) was a Polish literary and theater critic, playwright, translator, prose writer and director.
Witold Stanisław Kazimierz Bełza was a Polish librarian, writer, publicist and cultural activist. He was the director of the Provincial and Municipal Public Library of Bydgoszcz from 1920 to 1939 and from 1945 to 1952.
Saint Stanislaus's Church is a wood and brick Catholic church, situated on the eastern side of Bydgoszcz, Poland. Located at 1 Kapliczna street, its patron saint is Stanislaus of Szczepanów. The building and part of its surroundings have been registered on the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship Heritage List since 1995.
Bronisław Kłobucki (1896–1944), was a Polish sculptor and painter whose works are associated with Bydgoszcz and its region.
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