The Work of Life in the Master's Shadow: How Cooperation with Stefan Knapp Inspired Warsaw Metro Wojciech Fangor

In the history of Polish contemporary art, there is little to realize such monumental and stimulating emotions as the decorations of the central section II of the Warsaw metro line. Designed by Wojciech Fangor – one of the most important Polish creators of the 20th century – gigantic, pulsating names of the station became a symbol of the modern capital. The artist himself called this project his "works of life."

However, behind this spectacular implementation lies a fascinating, little-known story about technological determination, unprecedented judicial process and many months of close cooperation of two giants of Polish art. It was in the London studio of Stefan Knapp in the 1960s. Wojciech Fangor learned the pioneering technique of enamel on steel with his own eyes – the same technique which he fought with the Warsaw authorities about half a century later.

Unexpected Choice of Technology

Wojciech Fangor spent his entire life experimenting with space, optical illusion and color. His famous "wheels" and "waves" of the 1960s, which provided him as the only Polish individual exhibition at the New York Guggenheim Museum in 1970, were painted with traditional techniques on canvas . Fangor has never created monumental works in steel enamel technology before.

When in 2007 he won (together with the consortium of Metroproject and AMC Chołdzyński) a contest for the design concept of seven central stations of the section II metro line, his original sketches were made with crayons on narrow strips of paper. However, when the project entered the executive phase, the artist strongly demanded the realization of his visions in a specific, highly specialized technique: enamel burned on steel sheets.

The Management Board of the Warsaw Metro and the contractors initially rejected this idea for economic and technological reasons. Instead, they proposed to make a graph by satoprint on matt glass panes. Such technology was cheaper, faster to implement and seemed to be enough decision-makers for underground infrastructure.

The Battle of Emalia: The Process That Went To History

The decision to change technology and the attempt to impose advertising elements on the graphics caused rage in the 91-year-old artist at the time. Wojciech Fangor took an unprecedented step – he sued the capital city of Warsaw and the main contractor, Astaldi, demanding that the work be stopped and that the project be banned in unauthorized technology.

"Fangor before First Instance Court said Warsaw subway stations would be his ‘works of life’". He added that he was ready to complete the final project even for free – if someone from the city turned to him. He did not hide his irritation by ‘trying to use his name and depriving him of influence’."

The artist argued that the screen printing on glass was an impermanent technique, devoid of depth and lacking the essence of his pulsating, op-artist visions. He insisted on the enamel on steel with remarkable determination, risking total rejection of its concept.

Why was a painter who had never worked in this extremely difficult and demanding artisan technique before ready to go to court and risk "the work of life" to force its application? The answer lies in events that occurred 40 years earlier in Britain.

London Studio: The Mystery of the Series "E"

To understand Fangor's stubbornness, we must go back to fall 1965. Wojciech Fangor, having left Poland, stayed in England at the time as visiting lecturer at the Bath Academy of Art in Corsham. For six months of this extremely fertile period, the artist spent several days a week in London, where he painted in a studio, which was made available to him by another prominent Polish expat – Stefan Knapp.

Stefan Knapp (1921–1996) was already an established, world-renowned artist. As a former prisoner of Siberian camp and RAF pilot, he developed and patented an innovative enamel painting technique on large format steel plates. At the time Fangor hosted his studio, Knapp was at the height of his fame – it was at that time he was working on his monumental realizations, including giant panels for Heathrow Airport.

For many months Fangor had direct daily contact with Knapp's workshop. Although Fangor himself painted his famous Op-Art circles on canvas at the time (the paintings of this period marked with the letter "E" from England), he watched the process of creating works of steel and enamel with his own eyes. He saw powdered glass with pigments, burned in huge furnaces, create a coating of extraordinary durability, while preserving the incredible glass depth of color.

This London collaboration has turned into a deep artistic relationship. In the spring of 1966, just before his departure to the United States, Fangor gave his host at least two paintings from the "English" series "E" in gratitude.

Today we know about the fate of two of them:

•Image "E 11" (1965, oil on canvas, 127 x 127 cm) – for years it was in the London Knapp collection, and in 1978 it was donated to the Ackland Art Museum in Chapel Hill (USA) .

•The painting "E 6" (1965) – known as the "green circle", after Knapp's death was kept by his family, and in December 2017 was exhibited for sale by the DESA Unicum auction house.

Invisible Thread: From Knapp to Fangor

The relationship between the London studio and metro stations becomes even more meaningful when we look at the chronology of events in Warsaw. In 1988, eight years before his death, Stefan Knapp had advanced talks with the directorate of the then building Warsaw metro (I line). The artist wanted his unique technology to be used to decorate underground stations in his homeland. In evidence of the possibility of this technique, Knapp donated to Warsaw two works performed in the enamel technology on steel, which were placed in metro spaces.

Wojciech Fangor knew perfectly well that the enamel on steel is the only technique that can withstand extreme conditions in the metro (wildness, vibration, dust, vandalism), while maintaining the saturation of colors necessary for the art of op-art. He knew this because he had observed Stefan Knapp at work several decades earlier in London.

Aspect	Sitoprint on Glass (Metra Proposal)	Emalia on Stali (Fangor request / Knapp technique)
Durability	Low (sensitivity to scratches, cracks)	Extreme high ( scratch resistance, physical conditions)
Color depth	Flat, matt, limited pallet	Multidimensional, glassy, intensive saturation
Maintenance	Difficult in mechanical damage	Easy to clean (graffiti-resistant)
Precedent	Missing Monumental Architecture	Tested by Knapp (Heathrow, airports, public buildings)

Triumph of Art on the Compromise

The trial ended in March 2014 with a settlement . City authorities and contractors, struggling with public opinion pressure and the threat of delays, stepped down. It was agreed to return to the original concept – the station's names were made on enameled sheets, and Wojciech Fangor received the right of personal supervision of the production process.

"The sheet will be enamelled, or return to the original concept. The settlement will not generate any financial consequences for the city except to redesign walls for three stations with a changed name" - announced then spokesman for the Warsaw Metro, Krzysztof Mawko.

The implementation of this "works of life" was possible thanks to Fangor's determination, but also thanks to the technology he had developed and perfected several decades earlier by a boy from Biłgoraj. Today, millions of passengers of the Warsaw metro pass the pulsating Rondo Daszyński, Świętokrzyska and Nowy Świat-University stations every day. They admire the compositional genius Wojciech Fangor, not realizing that the material durability and glass glow of these works are the direct echo of the multi-month collaboration of two great artists in the London studio of 1965.

This extraordinary encounter of two great minds – one who devised how to close the color in steel and glass armor, and the other who remembered this lesson after 40 years, used this armor to create the largest underground op-art gallery in the world.