Modernity and traditionalism in the sepulchral art of the Lychakiv Cemetery in Lviv. Tendencies, examples and artists

The article bears a character of initial research on the Art Deco style and modernism in the sepulchral art of the Lychakiv Cemetery in Lviv. A group of art objects chosen on the basis of stylistic criteria and high artistic and scientific values is presented.. Traditional research methods of art history such as formal, iconographic and iconological analyses were used due to the fact that research on the architectural and sculptural form of the sepulchres and tombs in the Lychakiv Cemetery are still in its initial stage. The research showed the variety of architectural trends in the sepulchral art of the first thirty years of the 20th century, starting from neoclassical tendencies, through Art Deco and so-called eastern Lesser Poland style, up to avant-gard modernism. It resulted in a distinction of a group of tombs in the Lychakiv Cemetery in Lviv representative for popular architectural trends of that time. The article points to the features and ideological base of those tendencies and presents the environment of Lviv artists – architects, sculptors, decorators and stonemasons, including a circle linked to Tadeusz Iwanowicz stone workshop, to which belonged, among others, Bronisław Wiktor and Wincenty Witold Rawski. The research led to a conclusion that the sepulchral art created in the Lychakiv Cemetery in Lviv in the first thirty years of the 20th century was a subject to intensive changes starting from neo-classicism, through Art Deco and eastern Lesser Poland style up to avant-garde modernism. All of this was caused not only by the dynamics of architecture development of this time, but also by fashion for specific forms. The development of sepulchral art was fostered by a high artistic awareness of its creators: stone workshop owners, architects, decorators and sculptors.