I Will Be Photographing It in Colour, the exhibition organized for the 150th anniversary of Stanisław Lilpop’s birth, will feature about 180 photographs dating from 1908-1930. These will include what is regarded as the first Polish colour photograph and about 20 colour photos in autochrome, as well as 30 stereoscopic images. The exhibition at the History Meeting House is the first to show photographs in 3-D without polarization glasses - on screens and in the form of prints. It will be also complemented by a small display devoted to the history of stereoscopic photography.
Lilpop’s photographs, along with their artistic value, act as a significant record of Warsaw’s social life and of his hunting ventures and trips around Poland, Europe and Africa. The exhibition also features his self portraits and pictures of family and friends, especially of his beloved daughter Anna, who later married the writer Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz.
Lilpop’s photographs come across as a sort of a report, and portray the everyday life and events from the first decades of the 20th century, especially those taking place within Lilpop’s social circles. They stand out due to the photographer’s modern approach to the subject matter and composition, especially for the times he lived in.
Stanisław Wilhelm Lilpop was an incredibly interesting figure – descendant of a family of manufacturers from Warsaw, owner of the Brwinów estate – part of which he sold in order to make his dream trip to Africa come true – founder of the town-garden Podkowa Leśna, father of Anna Iwaszkiewicz and benefactor of the mansion in Stawisko, currently the site of a museum. He took his own life on 5th November 1930 in Warsaw.
Photography was, next to hunting, Lilpop’s greatest passion. He worked on his skills for years, by making glass diapositives, several hundred of which have survived in excellent condition and now constitute a precious exhibit at the Museum of Anna and Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz in Stawisko. Lilpop was probably the first photographer in Poland to make colour photographs, and he unquestionably was the first to introduce colour into stereoscopic photography, in 1908. His first colour photograph most probably comes from May 1909, which makes it only 17 months younger than the Lumière brothers' famous innovation.
The collection, now in possession of the museum in ,consists of 550 original diapositives on glass, including 21 in colour, and more than 1,000 prints on paper. The museum will organize a special exposition on the occasion of the Warsaw event, which will present archival material and souvenirs commemorating Lilpop anniversary. The exhibition will be accompanied by a photo book in 3-D, possibly the first album of the kind in Poland.
The exhibition I Will Be Photographing It in Colour has been prepared in Polish and English.
Stanisław Wilhelm Lilpop, I Will Be Photographing It in Colour
Opening: 4th July 2013, 6 pm
The exhibition is open until 17th November 2013
History Meeting House
Karowa 20
Warsaw
Curators of the exhibition: Małgorzata Zawadzka and Tomasz Wierzejski
Organizers: Warsaw Meeting House, Museum of Anna and Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz in Stawisko and FOTONOVA Press Agency
Sources: History Meeting House, O.pl
ed. AM 26.06.2013