The aim of the exhibition will be to present the diversity of the artist's portrait art and the influence he had on the development of Polish painting and culture. It will confirm and strengthen the international opinion of Poland as a country strong in its heritage. It will show contributions to the world's culture and the arts.

The presentation of the paintings at the National Portrait Gallery is intended to highlight and present the centuries-old traditions of Polish art and to be an interesting event for foreign audiences.

During the exhibition, a total of 16 works by the eminent artist will be presented, including 12 paintings that are in possession of the National Museum in Kraków, 3 paintings from the National Museum in Poznań and 1 from private collection.

The National Portrait Gallery was founded in 1856. It has one of the largest and most interesting portrait collections in the world. The Gallery presents six centuries of work, presenting portraiture as a unique art form combining art history, biography and culture. It reopened in June 2023, after a major refurbishment and modernisation. It  enjoys very high and widespread recognition. The Gallery regularly records more than 10,000 visitors a day and, with 13,000 associate members, it is an extremely prestigious venue to  present Wyspiański to the London public. For most of them, this will be their first encounter with this great artist.

PROJECT CONTENT-RELATED ASSUMPTIONS AND CHARACTERISTICS OF ACTIVITIES:

The exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London, will run from 27 March to 13 July, 2025. Work on the exhibition and publication is being performed by Dr. Alison Smith, Chief Curator of the National Portrait Gallery, and Professor Andrzej Szczerski, Director of the National Museum in Kraków.

The exhibition will take place in a space dedicated to changing exhibitions, Room 14 of the National Portrait Gallery, which is dedicated to artists and themes beyond the scope of the Gallery's permanent collection.

The exhibition will coincide with the Year of the Polish Culture in the UK (2025), which will have a very extensive accompanying programme supported by the British Council and will also include the Polish Heritage Day set for May 2025.

In addition, the exhibition will be accompanied at the National Portrait Gallery by another major exhibition of portraits by Edvard Munch - an artist who had a close personal relationship with Wyspiański.

All these cultural events will surely generate great interest among the public, increase engagement and encourage many people to visit the exhibition of Wyspianski's works. They will also reinforce the promotional activities planned as part of the project.

Stanisław Wyspiański (1869-1907) is widely regarded as the greatest Polish artist. Best known as the author of modern Polish drama, he was also an artist and designer of applied art, but his work is only just beginning to be appreciated outside Central Europe.

The main focus of the exhibition 'Portraits of Stanisław Wyspiański' will be the sixteen pastel, charcoal, crayon and pencil portraits of friends and family that he made during his short career. They show a fascinating insight into the cultural life of the nation under partition, striving for independence. Drawing on native folk traditions and executed in a progressive, expressive style influenced by Wyspiański's years spent in Paris, the portraits embody the ideals and aspirations of the Young Poland movement, with which he was closely associated.

Wyspianski's portraits are often characterised by sensual colours, experiments with form and an original approach to the depiction of figures. The influences of Symbolism, Art Nouveau and Impressionism can be seen in his works, while at the same time they bear traces of the artist's individual style.

An important addition to the exhibition will be a publication prepared in English, which will show all the works in the exhibition but also other paintings, thus enabling further discovery of his work. It will deepen interest in the artist among an international audience of art students, art audiences and art history. It will show his life and the times in which he lived, set in the right context for any audience to understand. Insights into Polish portrait art and Wyspiański's position in this space will provide the right depth of narrative and a focus on the artist's portraits.

The publication will be produced upon the opening of the exhibition, with a total number of copies equal to 2,000.

PLANNED OUTCOMES OF THE PROJECT:

• preparation of an international cultural event presenting Poland's national heritage
• presenting Polish culture through the realisation of an exhibition and other accompanying activities
• cooperation and exchange of knowledge and experience, methods of work, good practices in the field of cultural heritage conservation, organisation of exhibitions, promotion of museum activities, development of educational programmes for the management of a museum
• working together to develop optimal methods and ways of work in organising exhibitions
• identification and development of joint cultural ventures in Poland and the UK

OVERALL OBJECTIVES:

• popularisation and promotion of Polish culture in the UK
• creation of long-lasting relationships between specialists from Polish and British cultural institutions
• exchange of knowledge and experience in key areas of museum activities with a particular focus on the protection of cultural heritage
• building intercultural competence at institutional and individual level

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES:

• promotion of Polish culture and art abroad
• transfer of the Polish experience in the sphere of broadly understood culture and arts
• a presentation of Wyspiański's expressive artistic vision, showing not only the outward appearance of the figures portrayed, but also their intimacy through the human face
• presentation of Wyspianski's artistic evolution - from youthful enthusiasm to a mature view of the world
• showing the influence of symbolism and Art Nouveau in Wyspianski's work, through a wealth of detail, as well as experiments with form, which adds depth and meaning
• offering an educational aspect, allowing visitors to immerse themselves in the life and work of Stanisław Wyspiański
• inspiring the audience with the paintings of Wyspiański, one of the most important artists in Polish art at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries