Fine arts in the city of Łódź at the end of the 19th and at beginning of the 20th centuries

Abstract

The aim of this article is to present the situation of the Artistic Circles in the city of Lodz at the turn of the 19th and 20th century. In light of the research results published by various Lodz art historians and historians in different publications starting from the 1970s until the present times of the 21st century, one can say that the situation of the fine arts and the status of the artists themselves in the city of Lodz in the late 19th and early 20th century, contrary to popular belief, was not really bad but as a matter of fact quite satisfactory. The wealthy families of the capitalists and industrialists from the city of Lodz, which grew richer every day and which constantly strove to attain a higher and stronger position for their generation in the social hierarchy, emphasized their material status by means of building and constructing lavishly and expensively equipped villas and city palaces and by surrounding themselves with the works of art in these luxurious dwellings, especially in the last two decades of the 19th century. The representatives of the successive generations of factory-owners families (who were becoming increasingly well-educated) developed a strong passion for collecting works of art. Exhibition halls were being organized also at this time by such art dealers as: Z. Bartkiewicz, J. Pawłowski, K. Biedrzyński, J. Grodek and T. Kozanecki. Well-known and celebrated artists and architects who lived in the city of Lodz at the turn of the 19th and 20th century included such persons as: S. Hirszenberg, L. Pilichowski, M. Trębacz, H. Glicenstein, D. Landé and A. Zeligson.