Wyspiański. Unknown

“Wyspiański. Unknown” consists primarily of works of art and objects associated with Stanisław Wyspiański which the public will have the opportunity to see for the very first time.

Foremost among these are the pastel Self-portrait of the artist (1897) and the Portrait of Doctor Jan Raczyński (1904), which was acquired for the collections of the National Museum in Krakow in November 2018. For the first time also, visitors will be able to see more than 600 items from the artist’s library, purchased by the Museum in 1920 from Wyspiański’s widow, Teodora Teofilia née Pytko. Nearly all of the books are signed by the artist and dated. Many contain pencil sketches done by Wyspiański, while others include dedications from contemporary poets and writers who presented the artist with the books as gifts.

The exhibition will also present a set of first editions of Wyspiański’s dramas, from Legenda (Legend) and Warszawianka (Varsovian Anthem), published in 1898, to Skałka (The Rock), Powrót Odysa (The Return of Odysseus), and Sędziowie (The Judges), published in the year of the artist’s death. Not to be missed also are heretofore little-known works of the artist, including drawings from the days of his youth and pastels from the collections of the National Museum in Poznań, the Lublin Museum, the National Museum in Warsaw, and the holdings of private collectors, among others.  

Exhibition curator: Magdalena Laskowska
Coordinator: Aleksandra Kłaput
Arrangements: Bartosz Haduch – NArchitekTURA

The honorary patron of the exhibition is the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, professor Piotr Gliński, Ph.D.  

The Directors of the National Museum in Krakow and staff would like to express their sincere gratitude to all the private collectors and institutions which have made this exhibition possible:

National Archives in Kraków
Jagiellonian Library
PAU and PAN Academic Libraries in Kraków
Museum of Municipal Engineering
Lublin Museum
National Museum in Poznań
National Museum in Warsaw
Silesian Museum
Jagiellonian University Museum
Palace of Art of the Kraków Society of Friends of Fine Art
Society of Friends of the Pszczyna Region, Museum of Silesian Press