Władysław WOŁKOWSKI (1902-1986), Set of furniture

wicker, wood (alder or birch), glass; table: height 73.5 cm; top diameter 83.5 cm; chairs: height 79 cm; depth 45 cm;
Poland, ca. 1955.
Set of four chairs with wicker backs and seats and a round table with glass top.
The offered set probably comes from the former Café Morska in Gdansk Wrzeszcz.
Literature: Janusz Kowalski, Gdańskie kawiarnie i restauracje, "Architektura" 1955, no. 8 p. 231 (il.).
Władysław Wołkowski (1902-1986) - Polish artist and designer, called the "Michelangelo of wicker" for his unique and innovative approach to this material. He began his education in the 1920s in Kazimierz on the Vistula River and continued it under the tutelage of Wojciech Jastrzębowski - also a designer - which enabled him to participate in the preparation of the Polish exhibition for the World Exhibition in Paris (1925). In 1935, he graduated from the School of Fine Arts in Warsaw.
Wołkowski's main medium became wicker, and his designs enjoyed recognition even before World War II. In the late 1930s, they were presented at prestigious exhibitions in Berlin, Paris and New York, and in 1937, during the Paris exposition "Art and Technology in Modern Life," Volkovsky's work was honored with a gold medal.
The artist experimented with various forms and techniques of braiding. His works were characterized by a unique style that combined tradition with modernity. Using the natural properties of wicker, he created furniture that was both functional and aesthetically pleasing. Furniture of his design was also found in the representative interiors of government buildings, including the embassy headquarters in Berlin.
In the late 1950s, the artist carried out extensive commissions for royal courts in Belgium and Great Britain. In Poland, meanwhile, one of his best-known realizations was the complex furnishings of the Mercury Hotel in Poznan.