DOI issue:
Część I. Museum / Part I. The Museum
DOI article:Danielewicz, Iwona: Galeria Sztuki XIX Wieku
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45360#0054
Iwona Danielewicz The Gallery of 19th-Century Art
53
in point), set against a Surrealist background.11 This section of the exhibition presents an
overview of Symbolist landscapes and brings to the forefront one of the category’s most
significant traits - a conviction that the world cannot be described directly with the methods
known for centuries; that artists must utilize particular symbols, “stand ins,” or as Gauguin
called them - parabolas.12
In the new layout, a completely distinct section is devoted to Wyspiański due to the nature
of this artist’s work, which overlapped various fields of art and ranged from romantic flights of
fancy to pessimistic lamentations on the end of the century to doubts in his own abilities. This
separate room holds the artist’s landscapes, portraits, and designs for stained glass windows
and textiles. Such an arrangement was also necessitated by a conservatorial concern - most
of the works exhibited here are drawings in pastels and mixed media, which demand specific
conditions.
The Gallery of i9th-Century Art upholds the general principle that most European art insti-
tutions still abide by - to present the most important developments in art through the works
of outstanding artists. Simultaneously, the stature of the national museum obliges it to create
and maintain a canon of art. With that in mind, the gallery’s mission should reflect a chal-
lenge to continually search for new ways to interpret and analyse artistic achievements of the
19th century. We were faced with the call to select pieces from a massive pool of works in our
possession and we did so with a view to offering visitors an image of i9th-century art that is
pertinent to today’s audiences. An intensity of artistic issues, overlapping styles and Poland’s
unique historical experiences all complicated our challenge to arrange works in a way that
would demonstrate not only the ties between Polish and European art, but also difficulties
in accepting new directions and a peculiar type of conservatism. All of this is worth remem-
bering when touring the new exhibition in the Gallery of i9th-Century Art - interpreting the
creative message of artists and their works anew, in the here and now.
Translated by Simon Włoch
This text was published in the booklet Galley of 19th Century Art (Warsaw 2012). Some citations have
been altered in this publication to correspond to the editing rules adopted for this issue of Journal (a few
spelling, punctuation and stylistic changes).
11 Henri Loyrette’s introduction to the exhibition catalogue: Jacek Malczewski 1854-1929, Musée d’Orsay,
15 February - 14. May 2000 (Paris: Réunion des musées nationaux, 2000), p. 9.
12 From: Moderniści o sztuce [Modernists on Art], compiled by, edited by and with introduction by Elżbieta
Grabska (Warsaw: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1971), p. 222.
53
in point), set against a Surrealist background.11 This section of the exhibition presents an
overview of Symbolist landscapes and brings to the forefront one of the category’s most
significant traits - a conviction that the world cannot be described directly with the methods
known for centuries; that artists must utilize particular symbols, “stand ins,” or as Gauguin
called them - parabolas.12
In the new layout, a completely distinct section is devoted to Wyspiański due to the nature
of this artist’s work, which overlapped various fields of art and ranged from romantic flights of
fancy to pessimistic lamentations on the end of the century to doubts in his own abilities. This
separate room holds the artist’s landscapes, portraits, and designs for stained glass windows
and textiles. Such an arrangement was also necessitated by a conservatorial concern - most
of the works exhibited here are drawings in pastels and mixed media, which demand specific
conditions.
The Gallery of i9th-Century Art upholds the general principle that most European art insti-
tutions still abide by - to present the most important developments in art through the works
of outstanding artists. Simultaneously, the stature of the national museum obliges it to create
and maintain a canon of art. With that in mind, the gallery’s mission should reflect a chal-
lenge to continually search for new ways to interpret and analyse artistic achievements of the
19th century. We were faced with the call to select pieces from a massive pool of works in our
possession and we did so with a view to offering visitors an image of i9th-century art that is
pertinent to today’s audiences. An intensity of artistic issues, overlapping styles and Poland’s
unique historical experiences all complicated our challenge to arrange works in a way that
would demonstrate not only the ties between Polish and European art, but also difficulties
in accepting new directions and a peculiar type of conservatism. All of this is worth remem-
bering when touring the new exhibition in the Gallery of i9th-Century Art - interpreting the
creative message of artists and their works anew, in the here and now.
Translated by Simon Włoch
This text was published in the booklet Galley of 19th Century Art (Warsaw 2012). Some citations have
been altered in this publication to correspond to the editing rules adopted for this issue of Journal (a few
spelling, punctuation and stylistic changes).
11 Henri Loyrette’s introduction to the exhibition catalogue: Jacek Malczewski 1854-1929, Musée d’Orsay,
15 February - 14. May 2000 (Paris: Réunion des musées nationaux, 2000), p. 9.
12 From: Moderniści o sztuce [Modernists on Art], compiled by, edited by and with introduction by Elżbieta
Grabska (Warsaw: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1971), p. 222.