Gazduś Gallery

Since 2010, inside former Zakopane Promotion Bureau headquaters, and currently in Zakopane Cultural Center, "Gazduś" was created – a gallery in which everyone can find something for self or buy gifts for close person. Regional Zakopane souvenirs, jewellery, authentic everyday objects made by professional arists and podhalan folk craftsmen. High aristic quality, large offer of items and accessible prices make our gallery a one of a kind.

You're welcome!

Gazduś Gallery supports not only local artists and folk crafsmen from Zakopane and Podhale, but also those for who Podhale serves as source of inspiration. You can buy both professional are and artistic handicraft.

Various painting techniques are being displayed in Gazduś: glass painting, icon scribing, oil, pastel and watercolor paintings. There are also graphics and drawings. Other than this, artistic and usable woodworks or ceramics are richly represented. Figural sculptures adjoin wooden caskets, highlander bells and wooden shelfs.

Selection of leatherworks is also vast – ornamented caskets, small souvenirs like bookmarks or unusual spectacle cases. Additionaly, you can bring Podhale into your house by buying interior objects in Gazduś: tablecloths, treads, napkins, embroidered beddings, stained glass, carved clocks. Art enthusiasts will be delighted by handmade wool caps or gloves and beautiful jewellery.

GLASS PAINTING
Glass painting is the most popular paint art in Gazduś. Despite having its roots in Lower Silesia in XVIII, it is currently mostly connected with folk art of Podhale. Usually, it was hung in highlander huts. Due to weather conidtions (halny wind and frost) painting windows were rather small. However, because of contrastic, vivid colors of those works, the darkness of highlander housing was brightened and more comfortable. You could buy glass paintings mostly at the indulgence or from travelling vendors. The popular themes were religion related, folk legends and tales or genre scenes like bandit motifs. Contemporary glass painters are still loyal to this traditional iconography. It seems like these kinds of subjects are suiting for medium of glass painting. You can buy glass paintings of many podhalan artists like Anna Bogucka, Dorota Bujak, Maria Dudek, Zofia Majerczyk Owczarek, Bożena Doleżuchowicz-Mickiewicz and late Adam Doleżuchowicz (father) in our gallery.

PAINTING
People engaged with professional painting will also find valuable oil, aquarel and pastel paintings in Gazduś. Oil paintings of Zygmunt Kłosowski, son and grandson of talented painters from Zakopane, are realistic reproductions of actual landscapes and architectural objects. He himself speaks about the need to preserve the slowly passing world. His paintings are available in many galleries and private collections in Denmark, France, Germany and USA. Wincenty Szczypel uses oil and pastels to mostly paint portraits and flowers. Pastels are also important to Beata Zalot, who is not only painter, but also poet and journalist. On the other hand, Lidia Rosińska's speciality are drawings. Andrzej Ferenczak displays his icons in Gazduś, and while they are not associated with podhalan style, they arouse interest of our guests from eastern border. We can hardly name every single artist here, but we assure that their works are as much interesting and valuable. Every art lover might find something noticable here.

SCULPTURES
Aside from glass painting, wooden sculpture is one of the most noticable fields of podhalan folk culture. Originally it had sacral aspect, being mostly simple in form, even primitive, but also extremely expressive. Often anonymously, the artists prefered religious themes like Pensive Christ, Mother of God with Child, mourning Pietà or the Holy Trinity. As of saint figures, Saint Florian, patron of the firemen, was often picked since he was believed to protect households from fire hazard. Contemporary folk craftsmen, apart from traditional, sacral sculptures, also carve lesser sculpts like highlander figures, wild and domesticated animals and also depictions of tales of Janosik and his pack of bandits. Currently in Gazduś bigger and smaller wood figures of Pensive Christ (commonly known as “świątki”), crosses, chapels with sculptures or glass paintings, christmas cribs and highlander genre scenes are being exhibited. Despite their sculptures referencing traditional patterns, artists like Adam Doleżuchowicz (father), Władysław Łukaszczyk, Eugeniusz Bogucki, Andrzej Ferenczak and Florian Walkosz already developed their own, recognizable styles.
Admittedly, there was no traditional background when it comes to ceramics in Podhale region. However, both craftsmen and professional artists more and more often reach for clay to create forms that evoke their wooden equivalents.
In 2011 for the first time, --- students displayed their wooden and ceramic sculptures in the gallery. This sparked very positive feedback, as the works charmed with simplicity and refreshing art concepts. Its worth checking out since who knows, maybe there are future artists amongs authors of this exhibition.

VARIETY
Next to artwork in Gazduś, you can find many beautiful everyday items like wooden and leather caskets. Ceramic cups nad mugs, bells, hearts, easter eggs or christmas tree baubles. Angel figures, animals like cats, dogs, sheeps, rams and birds are very popular among collectors. As for more unconventional souvenirs from Zakopane, pincushions, pencil cases, leather bookmarks, spectacle and cellphone cases, small felt purses, metal staples and bells may satisfy. You can also order wooden chests, shelfs, sleds, cradles and woolen kilims through Gazduś Gallery. Finally, something that certainly will grab attention of women, however even men should take a look at our cabinets. Oryginal jewellery inspired by podhalan design: chaplets, necklaces, earings, bracelets, pendants and brooches – this will not only serve as a beautiful ornament, but also remind you of best times spent in Zakopane.

Free entrance!

Opening hours
The gallery is open during season (1-31 july) everyday at 9.00 – 17.00 and off season from monday to saturday at 9.00 – 17.00.

Contact

Zakopane Cultural Center – Touristic Information System of Lesser Poland
Kościeliska 7 st.
34-500 Zakopane
tel. +48 18 20 120 04