Henryk Hryniewski – a figure little known in Poland

There are several reasons why the work and life of Henryk Hryniewski ( 1869–1938) remain little known in Poland . Although the artist probably visited the Kingdom of Poland on several occasions, he did not create any works there, nor do we know of any of his paintings or drawings being held in Polish collections. Furthermore, following the artist’s tragic death at the hands of the NKVD in 1938, his studio was ransacked, and many of his works were destroyed or scattered. For years, this victim of the Stalinist purges was shrouded in an unwritten conspiracy of silence; after the war, there was for a long time no one in Poland to champion his memory. Hryniewski was only remembered again at the beginning of this century, first in his native Georgia, then in his homeland. The artist’s first biography is also due to be published in Poland shortly.

Hryniewski in cultural circles

Henryk Hryniewski studied painting and architecture in Italy and Germany, travelling with his mother and later on his own throughout Western Europe; he also visited Warsaw and, most likely, Kraków. At the very end of the 19th century , he returned to Georgia, which at that time, like parts of Poland, formed part of the Russian Empire. He settled in Tiflis (now Tbilisi), as the multicultural, rapidly developing capital of the Caucasian Viceroyalty was then known. He soon found his feet in cultural circles, becoming active in various progressive organisations; he helped to organise the Academy of Fine Arts and the National Museum.

A spectacular work by the Polish architect, created in collaboration with the architect Anatoly Kalgin ( 1875–1943), is the building of the Noble Land Bank in Tbilisi . Today it forms part of the National Parliamentary Library of Georgia and is open to visitors during the day. The building is situated on Lado Gudjashvili Street, named after the famous Georgian artist.

The Tbilisi Landowners’ Bank – a landowners’ credit society

The Tiflis Noble Landowners’ Bank ( Tyfliskij Dworianskij Ziemielnyj Bank) – as it was officially known – was established in 1874 as an expression of the Georgian elite’s aspirations for independence. Initially, it was a noblemen’s credit society granting mortgages to the Caucasian landed gentry. The initiative to establish it came from within the Georgian elite; the main driving forces were Prince Dimitri Kipiani , a liberal politician and social activist, and Ilia Chavchavadze , a writer, journalist and politician, later hailed as the father of Georgian independence; both were canonised by the Georgian Orthodox Church.

Like several other important initiatives by patriotic and pro-independence circles, the bank was an institution aimed at strengthening Georgian society in the face of the Empire’s colonising and Russification policies. This is how the young Polish scholar and traveller Edward Strumpf described it:

“Apart from purely economic matters, this society deals with issues of agriculture as a branch of the national economy; it provides grants to an agricultural journal, allocates funds to support the Georgian theatre and to publish scholarly works” (Images of the Caucasus, Warsaw 1900).

The building of the Noble Land Bank in Tbilisi

The initiative to build a new, prestigious building for the Noble Land Bank did not emerge until the 20th century. A competition was announced , which, in 1912 , was won by the partnership of Hryniewski and Kałgin. Construction began the following year; it lasted three years, which was undoubtedly a success, given that the First World War broke out shortly after work had commenced. In addition to the merits of the architectural design itself, both Henryk Hryniewski’s previous work and the concept he proposed for the interior decoration and architectural elements, which drew strongly on the traditions of medieval ornamentation in Georgian culture, may have been decisive.

Hryniewski had vast experience in this regard . Since his return to the Caucasus , he had taken part in ethnographic research missions whose task was to document magnificent medieval churches and their interiors – wall paintings, bas-reliefs, capital decorations, and richly ornamented stone crosses… From the countless drawings he produced, a vast collection emerged, which became a sort of personal design manual for his subsequent works. The artist used them, amongst other things, to illustrate the great volume of Ilia Chavchavadze’s Collected Works, a project initiated following the writer’s assassination in 1909. Work on the book project, also imbued with the spirit of the Georgian modern renaissance, proceeded in parallel with the development of the Bank’s architectural concept. As can be seen, Polak was deeply embedded within the sphere of influence of the father of Georgian independence.

The architecture of the Noble Land Bank building

The building and its decoration were described very well by the Georgian art historian, Eka Kiknadze. Writing about the façades best visible from Gudiashvili Street and from Vachnadze Street, which converges with it, she noted:

“They are adorned with ornamental motifs borrowed from the decorations of Georgian churches of the 10th–13th centuries, including direct references to the churches of Akhtala [now in northern Armenia] and Oshki [now Öşvank in Turkey]. Most of the decoration, however, is the fruit of Hryniewski’s imagination. […] The most beautiful set of capitals runs along the façade of the building facing Gudiashvili Street. Each capital is different, and in some cases even each of the four sides of a capital differs in its ornamentation. The decoration of the capitals bears the typical features of medieval Georgian architecture – combining ornamentation with simplicity. […] The main decorative features of the façades – tall windows framed by twisted scrolls, with their richly decorated arched tops – are characterised by an abundance of ornamentation. The tower rising at the junction of the façades, inspired by the forms of traditional towers from Svaneti [a high-mountain region in northern Georgia], also looks impressive.”

Before entering the building, visitors are captivated by the beautifully decorated arcades of the external gallery, the ornamentation of the balustrades and the entrance doors. Further on is a spacious, stately vestibule (entrance hall), with dazzling painted decorations on the vaulted ceiling, and a magnificent staircase with marble steps flanked by a carved balustrade.

The vestibule ‘rests on four pillars. The alabaster capitals, coloured a light brown, are decorated with zoomorphic figures. The dominant colour of the ceiling painting is blue, with distinctly contrasting red and gold accents in the floral ornamentation. […] The staircase murals are remarkable for their beauty. Architecturally, this section mimics a domed vault with distinct bays. Two tall windows have been cut into the wall. The ceiling is entirely covered with a circular, dynamic floral pattern, whilst the walls feature large, monochromatic panels which balance the decorative richness of the upper sections and fill the space with light and airiness.”

A staircase with ornate arches above the windows and ceiling paintings leads from the vestibule to the main hall on the first floor.

“He drew inspiration from motifs taken from ancient Georgian architecture and the illuminations in medieval manuscripts. These paintings can unhesitatingly be regarded as some of the finest we know of from Tbilisi’s interiors, both in terms of their scale and their artistic merit.”

Descending to the ground floor, we find the reading room, which today bears the name of Henryk Hryniewski. It is well worth a visit, and one should note the harmonious blend of the interior décor with the room’s architecture.

The Georgian scholar concludes her analysis:

“The architecture and interior design of the Noble Land Bank are the finest example of the process of Europeanisation of Georgian artistic life in the early 20th century, a process which began in the late 19th century and reached its peak in 1910. Henryk Hryniewski’s contribution to this process is invaluable. In the building’s interior design, Hryniewski moderates the Oriental penchant for ornamentation in a ‘European’ manner and creates a synthesis.”

The wall decorations of this magnificent monument to modern Georgian culture were designed by Henryk Hryniewski. In recent years, the Henryk Hryniewski Art Hall in the third building of the National Library of the Parliament of Georgia in Tbilisi has undergone conservation work funded by the Polonika Institute and the Polish National Foundation, where a Polish library has been established. Its collection comprises nearly 10,000 volumes and is under the care of the Polish Institute in Tbilisi. The conservation work was carried out by the TERPA Foundation for the Protection of Shared Cultural Heritage. It is an important place for anyone visiting Tbilisi who is interested in the history and culture of Georgia and Poland.