Department of Modern Art

The Modern Art Department of the National Museum in Kraków collects works of art created between approximately 1764 and approximately 1914: paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints and photographs. These works are displayed in exhibitions at the Jan Matejko House, the Gallery of 19th-Century Polish Art in the MNK Sukiennice, and the Józef Mehoffer House.

Modern Art Department

The Department’s collection is one of the largest and most diverse in the Museum’s holdings. It comprises:

1. The collection of 19th-century Polish painting and drawing, which includes works created mainly in the 19th century, but also in the second half of the 18th century and at the beginning of the 20th century. These are works by artists such as: Franciszek Smuglewicz, Marcello Bacciarelli, MNK Matejko, Maurycy Gottlieb, Henryk Rodakowski, Witold Pruszkowski, Józef Chełmoński and Stanisław Witkiewicz. Of particular value within the collection is the body of work by Piotr Michałowski and Henryk Siemiradzki. The works of Aleksander Kotsis and Aleksander Gierymski are also well represented. The Department also holds a collection of 18th–19th-century portrait paintings.

2. The collection of art from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries – this is a particularly rich collection of art reflecting the fundamental aesthetic and ideological principles of the era. It comprises paintings, drawings and prints by the most outstanding Polish artists of the time: MNK Wyspiański, Jacek Malczewski, Józef Mehoffer, Olga Boznańska, Jan Stanisławski, Witold Wojtkiewicz, Wojciech Weiss, Leon Wyczółkowski, Ferdynand Ruszczyc, as well as the sculptors Ludwik Puget, Konstanty Laszczka and Wacław Szymanowski. These works are complemented by the largest collection of Young Poland posters in the museum’s holdings. Most of these are donations from private individuals, including, in particular, Feliks ‘Mangghi’ Jasieński, Erazm Barącz, Leon Kostka and Stanisław Tomkowicz.