1/09/2007

The wealth of the contemporary art collection in the holdings of the National Museum in Warsaw precludes a cross-sectional display in the limited space allotted to the 20th-century Art Gallery. This is why we have decided to put on – beginning in April 2007 – a series of displays entitled ‘Uncovering the Collection’. The present show will be on in unaltered shape till the end of 2008.

It highlights the most precious specimens of Polish 1945–55 art in the collection of the National Museum in Warsaw, many of which belong to the basic canon of post-war Polish art.
The gallery opens with works connected with World War II trauma, with Andrzej Wróblewski’s Surrealist Execution (1949) in the lead, followed by paintings displayed at the 1st Modern Art Exhibition in Cracow (1948) and, created at the same time, Władysław Strzemiński’s solarist pictures.
The second room contains the post-war work of the Capists (the group name comes from the Polish acronym of the Paris Committee, KP). It was decisive to the high position of the colourist trend in Polish painting though, during the period highlighted, Józef Czapski and Piotr Potworowski were active in exile. Also in this room, we present Pablo Picasso’s pottery donated to our Museum during his memorable visit to Poland in 1948.
The third room is devoted to art produced in orbit of political and aesthetic dictates finding expression in socialist realism decreed officially in 1949. Displayed besides the classical pieces of the trend awarded prizes at the State Annual Art Exhibitions (OWPs) are modern versions of progressive subjects taken up by avant-garde Polish artists plus a selection of images by French and Italian artists with communist leanings (André Fougeron, Renato Guttuso, Gabriele Mucchi). Bronisław W. Linke’s Bus provides an ironical comment on the optimistic vision of postwar Poland.
The gallery’s last room documents the artistic breakthrough connected with overcoming the doctrine of socialist realism. As symbols of the process, there were the 1955 exhibition at the Warsaw Arsenal, paving the way to new painterly expression, and the operation of the Warsaw Group 55. In this room we also present works by Henryk Stażewski, acting as patron of the reborn avant-garde.
Closing the gallery, Andrzej Wróblewski’s later works, metaphorical images of the postwar realities, anticipate further stages of the collection uncovering.
The room right of the entrance, a link with the Polish Painting Gallery, is intended for temporary shows of prints and drawings of 1945–55.
The individual phenomena are discussed in the Guide to the gallery, which brings colour reproductions of all the works on display.
Members of the public interested in the art of the 1940s and 1950s are invited to lectures and film projections. The programme will be accessible on the museum’s website.

The National Museum in Warsaw
Al. Jerozolimskie 3, Warsaw 00-495
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
Tel. (48 22) 621 10 31
Fax (48 22) 622 85 59

Opening hours:
Permanent Galleries:

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Monday – closed

Temporary Exhibitions:

Tuesday, Wednesday 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Thursday, Friday 10 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Saturday, Sunday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Monday – closed
 
source:www.mnw.art.pl