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Adam Kossowski, Historia Old Kent Road, 1964-1966, glazurowana terakota, Londyn, Peckham, photo Andrzej Pieńkos, 2013
Licencja: CC BY-SA 4.0, Warunki licencji
Fotografia przedstawiająca \'History of Old Kent Road\' painting in London
Adam Kossowski, Historia Old Kent Road, 1964-1966, glazurowana terakota, Londyn, Peckham, photo Andrzej Pieńkos, 2013
Licencja: CC BY-SA 4.0, Warunki licencji
Fotografia przedstawiająca \'History of Old Kent Road\' painting in London
Adam Kossowski, Historia Old Kent Road, 1964-1966, glazurowana terakota, Londyn, Peckham, photo Andrzej Pieńkos, 2013
Licencja: CC BY-SA 4.0, Warunki licencji
Fotografia przedstawiająca \'History of Old Kent Road\' painting in London
Adam Kossowski, Historia Old Kent Road, 1964-1966, glazurowana terakota, Londyn, Peckham, photo Andrzej Pieńkos, 2013
Licencja: CC BY-SA 4.0, Warunki licencji
Fotografia przedstawiająca \'History of Old Kent Road\' painting in London
Adam Kossowski, Historia Old Kent Road, 1964-1966, glazurowana terakota, Londyn, Peckham, photo Andrzej Pieńkos, 2013
Licencja: CC BY-SA 4.0, Warunki licencji
Fotografia przedstawiająca \'History of Old Kent Road\' painting in London
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ID: POL-001378-P

'History of Old Kent Road' painting in London

ID: POL-001378-P

'History of Old Kent Road' painting in London

A panorama of the history of the area around the former road through Kent to London, from the time of the Romans to the present day. Three large ceramic walls, laid with around 2,000 tiles, show crowded historical scenes, genre details, unabashedly humorous and in grotesque styling.

The building originally housed the North Peckham Civic Centre, which opened in November 1966, conceived as a centre for the regeneration of a neglected neighbourhood in London's southern suburbs. Its austere modernist architecture on the side of the main street and its block (Peckham Park Road) is decorated with a colourful history of England, told in the style of children's book illustrations. The whole could also resemble 'Florentine painting from the early Renaissance. (...) Kossowski consciously bases his concept on the fresco painting of Giotto and his pupils. Of course, Kossowski's compositions are a kind of modern stylisation of the art of the Florentine masters, but his works are permeated by the same almost naive simplicity of faith, the same mood of serenity and harmony" (A. Drwęska). Figures and buildings appear on several levels and on a differentiated scale, forming an uninterrupted narrative of the history of Roman and Christian Britain (with, for example, the pilgrimage to Canterbury, in which the writer G. Chaucer appears; with the peasant revolt of Jack Cade). The modern part of the story features, among others, King Charles II, returning from exile; the modern part features Victorian-era London, and, finally, aeroplanes and cars on contemporary streets, and a London policeman. Kossowski's assistant in his London studio, helping to execute the whole thing, was the painter Krystyna Henneberg. Kossowski's decorations are in good condition, cleaned, while the building itself, which has lost its original functions, remains in complete disrepair.

Time of origin:
1964-66
Creator:
Adam Kossowski (malarz i rzeźbiarz)(preview)
Bibliography:
  • Adam Kossowski. Murals and Paintings, London 1990, s. 17, 54-55 (il.), 103, 116.
  • A. Drwęska, Nowa ceramika Adama Kossowskiego, „Tydzień Polski”, 1966, nr 48, s. 3.
  • T. Terlecki, Kossowski of Aylesford, w: tegoż: Szukanie równowagi, wyd. 2, Londyn 1988, s. 263.
  • L.F. Pearson, Public Art since 1950, bm 2006, s. 11.
Keywords:
Author:
prof. Andrzej Pieńkos
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