Marian Mokwa (1889 Malary - 1987 Sopot), Gdansk. St. Mary's Church, before 1975.

oil, canvas, 70 × 50 cm
Signed p. d.: "Mokwa"

Provenance:
- Purchase from the artist in 1975; since then in the family collection.

"To his talent and work Pomerania owes fame and notoriety." - Wladyslaw Cieszynski wrote. (Krzysztof Wójcicki, "Conversations with Mokwa", Gdynia 1997, p.103) Marian Mokwa clearly defined the style and subject matter of his painting at the beginning of his artistic path. He maintains the direction once chosen and remains faithful to the promises he made in 1913 in Turkey. He decided to dedicate his entire oeuvre to the Polish sea. "W: A painter will not create a work in a day. A work of art is a plasticization of a certain thought, idea. Before it was created the idea had to develop. It takes a lifetime of experience. M: I grasped this idea in 1913 and I'm still realizing it today." (Words of Wladyslaw Cieszynski quoted in: Krzysztof Wójcicki, "Conversations with Mokwa," Gdynia 1997, p. 89)

Against this background, his urban scenes also take on special significance. Maintained in cool colors, the atmospheric composition emphasizes the power and monumental character of St. Mary's Church in Gdansk. (il. I) (il. II) Sketchily outlined, as if suspended in motion, the figures accentuate the vastness of the space. At the same time they do not draw attention away from the dominant body of the temple. Marian Mokwa was an artist associated with Gdansk, not only by rendering its images on canvas, he also collaborated with the art and literary monthly "Fale". It was one of the few Polish-language and nationwide magazines published in the Free City of Danzig. He was in charge of the graphic side of the magazine by making illustrations using the dry needle technique and posting reproductions of his own works. "The publishing house "Waves" wishes to give true art lovers with its paintings, drawn from the life of the Kashubian people and from the treasures of the Polish coast, by an artist who is with every fiber of his nerves, soul and blood strongly connected with this people and country, that delight and aesthetic satisfaction that only true art can give." (Wojciech Zmorzyński, "Marian Mokwa 1889-1987 faithful to the sea", National Museum in Gdańsk, Gdańsk 1998, p. 10)