I used to say that we (Poles or Polish people) are everywhere in the world.( Of course deep inside I am convinced you will find a place on Earth that has no idea about Poland quite easily.) ;) Still everywhere I went some Polish names or the name of my country were well known here and there and to meet someone from my country that is living abroad was surprisingly easy even when Poland was not in UE.
The reason why I am writing this post is the talk that we had with
Sans! when she was visiting Poland. I don’t suppose anyone of you could think that Poles have any connotations with India? Well, to be honest until last year I was sure(silly me!) no one heard Polish names in this big, well known country. Well, maybe except for Christians and John Paul II.;)
Yet, to my surprise last year one of our TV channels was showing a movie about an Artist named Stefan Norblin, who’s name was till recently completely forgotten in Poland. Because of WWII his life was full of moving from country to country and one of his destinations, quite probably the most important one, was Jodhpur in Rajasthan, India.
Why the most important? Well he got there the most important commission in his life. A commission from Maharaja Umaid Singh to adorn his new palace, Chittar Palace.
Chittar Palace( now known as Umaid Bhawan Palace) was built as a hybrid design of both Eastern and Western architecture of which the British architectural firm Lanchester and Lodge was responsible. The interiors were adorned with Art Deco and Streamline Moderne style. And Stefan Norblin was responsible for murals and paintings .
Quite recently the first Norblin’s exhibition took place in Stalowa Wola in my country….
Some links:...................................................................................
The Peak of Chic
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Polish exhibition (in Polish)..........................................................................................
Umaid Bhawan Palace
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Stefan Norblin (in Polish).........................................................................................
A Pole in palace
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Taj Hotels Resorts & Palaces
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All the photos in this post were found on internet.
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Dzisiejszy post został napisany pod wpływem rozmowy z
Sans! o Indiach. Pamiętałam , że oglądałam program w telewizji o polskim malarzu, który ozdobił jeden z indyjskich pałaców, ale za przysłowiowe Chiny nie mogłam sobie przypomnieć ani nazwiska malarza, ani nazwy pałacu.;) Teraz nadrabiam zaległości i zapraszam do poznania twórczości Stefana Norblina, naszego - bardzo mało znanego w kraju - nadwornego malarza maharadży Umaid Singh’a.
