Maria and Paweł Fietkiewicz at the Amber Museum

From 27 October this year to 28 February, an exhibition of works by Sopot artists Maria and Paweł Fietkiewicz, organised to mark the 45th anniversary of their work, can be seen at the Amber Museum in Gdańsk.

The collected works come from the collections of the following institutions: the Diocese of Pomerania and Greater Poland of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in the Republic of Poland in Sopot, the Archdiocesan Museum in Oliwa, the Amber Museum, the National Museum in Gdańsk - Department of Contemporary Art, the Museum in Gliwice, the Museum of Goldsmithing Art in Kazimierz Dolny, the Castle Museum in Malbork, as well as private individuals: the artists themselves, Gabriela Gierłowska and Janina Grabowska. The exhibition brings together a total of 169 works from various periods of their creative output – the oldest date back to 1964, the newest to 2007. Medallions, brooches, rings, pendants, small boxes and bracelets captivate with the extraordinary beauty of the landscapes discovered by the artists within amber. This is because Maria and Paweł Fietkiewicz are regarded as pioneers of a fresh perspective on this magical stone – they were the first to strongly accentuate the natural beauty of amber by enclosing it in silver settings featuring characteristic multiplied bezels or crafted using the „fire” technique. Although amber is the undisputed protagonist in their workshop, the colour palette is expanded by pearls, opals, brilliant-cut diamonds, amethysts, rock crystals, almandines, chalcedonies and corals. The exhibition also features ceramic paintings by Maria Fietkiewicz, which are the result of the artist's fascination with Eastern Orthodox sacred art.

Present at the vernissage, Janina Grabowska, art historian, creator and long-time custodian of the amber collection at the Malbork Castle Museum, wrote in the introduction to the catalogue accompanying the exhibition: „Praise is due to Maria and Paweł Fietkiewicz for four fundamental matters over which they reign supreme: for their immense diligence and respect for the craft, for drawing upon the traditions of past artistic craftsmanship in a creative and independent manner, for their artistic sensitivity, which always leads them towards delicate, refined forms and flawless compositions. And finally, for something extraordinary. From their youth throughout their lives they have worked together, yet each of them has retained their individuality, distinctiveness, in a word – an independent ‘artistic soul’. What they share is merely the atmosphere in which they work, full of silence and tranquillity, and the sharing of feelings in the critical assessment of the works they create.”

Viewing the exhibition and listening to the speeches – especially that of Janina Grabowska, who vividly recalled the beginnings of the Malbork collection, thereby highlighting the immense progress in the field of interest in amber that has taken place over the past 40 years and more – it is easier to realise that the history of amber art is written in chapters, and in the case of the Fietkiewicz family, in letters of gold. And that both the present and the future stem from the past – which is precisely why this exhibition should be seen by all those who are shaping, or will shape, the design of amber jewellery today and tomorrow.