Stanisław Kolowca, Tournament Hall at the Wawel Castle, circa 1980
Description
Gelatin silver process on paper; signature, date and title on the reverse; vintage print, 18x13 cm.
Stanisław Kolowca (1904 - 1968 Kraków) – photographer, connoiseur of old art. At first, he worked as an assistant operator at the Elka-Film plant in Kraków, later he studied at Antoni Pawlikowski works. At the end of the 20s, he took studies at the graphic school in Vienna for a year, and after returning to Poland, he was employed at the Museum of Art Industry in Kraków, for whom he photographed pieces of art and architecture. After World War II he worked at the State Art Collection of Wawel Castle and at Central Photo Agency. He was also a lecturer at the Academy of Fine Arts and from 1945 a member of the Association of Polish Art Photographers. In addition to the traditional technique of black and white photography, he preferred the so-called noble techniques including vomachrome, duksochrome and pigment. He experimented on color photography. He was primarily involved in photographing works of art: architecture, sculpture, painting and handicraft. He is known for his photographic documentation mainly of Polish Gothic stained glass windows, Wawel collections and the St Mary's altarpiece of Wit Stwosz in the church of the Blessed Virgin Mary.