Teodor Marian Talowski (born 23 March 1857 in Zasów; died 1 May 1910 in Lviv) was a Polish architect and painter. Because of his style, which combined late Historicism with Art Nouveau and Modernist influences, he has been described as "the Polish Gaudi".[1] His works include apartment buildings, churches, chapels and public buildings in Kraków, Lviv and other cities throughout former Austrian Galicia.
Biography
Talowski was born in Zassów (now Zasów) near Tarnów, in AustrianGalicia, and attended a gymnasium in Kraków. Later he moved to Vienna, where he studied architecture under Karl König. After two years he moved to Lviv (Polish: Lwów, German: Lemberg), to study under Julian Zachariewicz at Lviv Polytechnic, from which he graduated in 1881.
He came back to Kraków to be a professor at the Higher School of Technology and Industry (Polish: Wyższa Szkoła Techniczo-Przemysłowa).
In 1901 he was appointed the chair of the Department of Drawing and later the Department of Medieval Architecture Composition at Lviv Polytechnic.[2][3]
Throughout his whole professional life, Talowski worked mainly in Galicia, designing public utility buildings as well as private houses.[4] The works of Talowski are set in eclecticism, showing strong connections with historicism and Art Nouveau.[5]
He died prematurely in 1910 in Lviv after five years of poor health and was interred at the Rakowicki Cemetery in Kraków.
Main works
Residential buildings
Some of Talowski's houses at Retoryka street, Kraków. From the left - numbers 9th-1st
Complex of apartment buildings in Kraków at 1,3,7,9,15 Retoryka street:
• 1 Retoryka Street - Under the Singing Frog (Pol. Pod śpiewającą żabą), 1889–90[6]
• 7 Retoryka Street - Festina Lente, 1887
• 9 Retoryka Street - Under the Ass (Pod Osłem), 1891
• 15 Retoryka Street - Think Long, Act Fast (Długo myśl, prędko czyń), 1888
Talowski's own house Under the Spider (Pol. Pod pająkiem) on Karmelicka Street, Kraków, 1889
Apartment building at 18 Smoleńsk Street, Kraków, Under the Dragon (Pod Smokiem), 1887
Churches
Talowski designed over 70 churches, including:
Church of St. Elizabeth in LvivDobiecki Manor House, Cianowice Duże
^Maciej Gutowski, Bartłomiej Gutowski, Architektura Secesyjna w Galicji, DiG publishing, Warsaw 2001, p. 27
^"The works of Teodor Talowski and his forgotten project of S. Goszczyński Gymnasium in Nowy Targ. History and remarks on revalorisation". Retrieved 2019-08-05.
^"ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION AT LVIV POLYTECHNIC DURING THE INTERWAR PERIOD" (PDF). Retrieved 2019-08-06.
^"Teodor Talowski". Retrieved 2019-08-05.
^"The works of Teodor Talowski and his forgotten project of S. Goszczyński Gymnasium in Nowy Targ. History and remarks on revalorisation". Retrieved 2019-08-05.
^Borejza, Tomasz (2022-09-12). "Popatrz w górę! Fantastyczne detale krakowskich kamienic". Krowoderska.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2022-09-18.
Sources
• Maciej Gutowski, Bartłomiej Gutowski, Architektura Secesyjna w Galicji, DiG publishing, Warsaw 2001, p. 23-27 (in Polish).
External links
www.talowski.pl (in Polish)
www.talowski.prv.pl (in Polish)
Pictures of apartment buildings at Retoryka street, Kraków (in Polish)
Pictures of Talowski's churches from the Diocese of Tarnów[permanent dead link] (in Polish)