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ELEMENTS OF ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE AS INSPIRATION FOR CONTEMPORARY WORKS - IGOR MITORAJ VERSUS KRZYSZTOF BACULEWSKI
Abstract
Twentieth-century art remained under the influence of ancient cultures, with artists frequently reinterpreting classical myths and employing mythological motifs. For instance, James Joyce, in his novel Ulysses, presented a classical myth within a modern context. Artists also used figures such as Niobe and Icarus to express universal truths about the human condition. Polish artists – sculptor Igor Mitoraj and composer Krzysztof Baculewski – likewise drew inspiration from antiquity. Mitoraj’s sculptures, renowned for their fragmentary form and enigmatic character, combine ancient beauty with modern sensitivity. The distinguished Polish composer Krzysztof Baculewski, a student of Olivier Messiaen among others, featured photographs of ancient columns, friezes, and amphitheaters on the covers of his albums as evidence of his fascination with classical art. His compositions Frisium and Meander, which contain direct references to ancient architecture, will be analyzed in this study, as they have never been previously examined or discussed in scholarly literature. In my research on the influence of ancient architecture on contemporary sculpture and music, I employ both a descriptive method – aimed at explaining how elements of antiquity are reflected in musical and sculptural works – and a comparative method, which enables the identification of similarities between specific artistic features and elements of ancient culture.
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References10
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Wywiad przeprowadzony z Krzysztofem Baculewskim dnia 1 pazdziernika 2025 roku przez autorke artykulu.
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