Worth a look
Exhibition “Olga Boznańska and… Polish Painting of the 19th and Early 20th Century from the Collection of the National Museum in Gdańsk”
Art and Heritage in Central Europe
The National Museum in Gdańsk has delved into its storage, bringing forth works long unseen by our public, amassed in its collections over decades. They aim to present them as part of the „Collection” series – a sequence of temporary exhibitions organized across our various departments. This time, they have the immense pleasure of presenting a priceless collection of paintings from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, drawn from the holdings of the Department of Modern Art at the Abbot’s Palace in Oliwa.
A direct impetus for presenting this collection is also the fact that the year 2025 is dedicated to Olga Boznańska. The Museum’s collection could not be complete without paintings by one of the most important representatives of portraiture and modernism. Indeed, the figure of this outstanding artist and her oeuvre became the direct inspiration for their narrative on Polish painting at the turn of the centuries.
The exhibition focuses on the achievements of artists who have permanently inscribed themselves into the canon of national art. The works gathered at the Gdańsk Museum represent a broad spectrum of styles and movements: from Romanticism, through Realism and Symbolism, up to Young Poland, showcasing the richness and diversity of art from this period. Each presented work is not only a masterpiece in itself but also a testament to an era rich in social, cultural, and artistic transformations.
The exhibition will feature works by artists such as the aforementioned Olga Boznańska, whose portraits continue to fascinate with their psychological depth, and Piotr Michałowski, whose battle scenes and dynamic equestrian portraits are the quintessence of Romantic painting. Masterful Symbolism can be found in the paintings of Jacek Malczewski. The exhibition will also include canvases by Stanisław Wyspiański, with his unparalleled dynamic line, and works by proponents of vibrant brushwork, such as Józef Pankiewicz, Julian Fałat, Władysław Ślewiński, and Wojciech Weiss.
The exhibition will be enriched by unique photographs from the early 20th century, sourced from the collections of the Gdańsk Gallery of Photography. Works by Jan Bułhak, one of the pioneers of Polish artistic photography, Stanisław Filibert Fleury, and Tadeusz Rząca not only document a bygone era but also stand as works of art in their own right. Their presence allows for a deeper understanding of the visual context of the times in which the featured paintings were created.
The entire exhibition will be framed by a narrative element in the form of video art and paintings by Katarzyna Swinarska, which consciously engage in dialogue with the figure of Olga Boznańska. They create a fascinating perspective that prompts reflection on the timelessness of art.
The exhibition is available from 2.08.2025 to 29.03.2026 at the Department of Modern Art, Abbots’ Palace in Oliwa.
