Bucznik

Bucznik is a settlement and former artists' colony in Istebna, between the hamlet of Andziołówka and the valley of the Olecka, a right-bank tributary of the Olza. Today the private Konarzewski Family Museum and Gallery operates here, telling the story of the artists associated with the place.

How the artists' colony came about

The name comes from the old beech trees that grew in the middle of the settlement. In 1922 the painter and sculptor Ludwik Konarzewski senior began building a house and studio here. The symbolic date of the colony's founding is taken to be 3 May 1923, the feast day of the chapel of Our Lady Queen of Poland, which he built as an offering of thanks for his safe return from tsarist exile.

Next to it the first guesthouse in mountain Istebna was built, also named Bucznik. Visitors included the painter Julian Fałat, the physician Ludwik Hirszfeld, the writer Zofia Kossak-Szczucka, the writer Gustaw Morcinek and the activist Wojciech Korfanty. An informal art school for young people also operated by the studios, and the host collected sculptures, paintings, regional costumes and a library in his own collections.

War and rebuilding

During the Second World War the occupation authorities ordered the buildings of Bucznik to be pulled down. Only the chapel survived, and most of the collections were looted, destroyed or dispersed. The family returned to Bucznik in 1945.

After the war the art school resumed its activity and functioned until about 1960. In 1960 construction began on a brick house with a studio at number 596, to a design by the architect Stanisław Konarzewski. In 1980-1985 a wooden house at number 29 was built next to it, regarded as one of the first residential wooden buildings of a new generation in Poland.

Museum and gallery

The museum is devoted to the work of Ludwik Konarzewski senior (1885-1954), his son Ludwik junior, his wife Joanna and other members of the family. The exhibition includes paintings, sculptures, prints, artistic ceramics and weaving, as well as the history of the colony, the workshops and the guesthouse.

Members of the Konarzewski family show visitors round the chapel, which survives to this day, and the gallery.

Nearby

Bucznik is close to the Zagroń Istebna complex, about 800 m in a straight line. Two kilometres further, towards the centre of Istebna, stands the Jerzy Kukuczka Memorial Room, and the Kawulok Smoke Cottage is about 2.5 km away.

Practical information

• Address: Istebna, Bucznik 596 (the Konarzewski House), which is how the site is listed in the list of places to visit on the Istebna municipality website.
• The museum is private and open by telephone arrangement; contact details are given on the Istebna municipality website under Sightseeing.
• No fixed opening hours are given, so you need to make an appointment before your visit.