From Matejko to Utagawa. Drawings and engravings from the collection of the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin

On the occasion of the opening of the new building of the Institute of Environmental Engineering KUL in Stalowa Wola, we present drawings, watercolors, pastels, and prints from the collections of the Lublin university museum. This is a unique opportunity to get acquainted with little-known drawings by such outstanding artists as Jan Matejko, Piotr Michałowski, Józef Chełmoński, Józef Pankiewicz, and Stanisław Noakowski. Complementing the presentation is a selection of modern engravings, etched by the likes of Dominic Custos, Willem Jacobsz. Delff, Charles de La Haye, and Claude Roy, as well as Japanese colored woodcuts by Ichiyusai (Utagawa) Kuniyoshi and Hasui Kawase. The works on paper presented in the exhibition come from the donations of Fr. Prof. Władysław Smoleń, Olga and Tadeusz Litawiński, Krystyna Hartleb, Lech Wałęsa, and Stanisława and Tadeusz Witkowski.

The Catholic University of Lublin John Paul II was established in 1918 to educate and conduct research in the spirit of balance between science and faith. University art collections were envisaged to play an important role in this process. Their beginnings date back to 1932, when Canon Jan Władziński (1861-1935), a known patriot and social activist in the Lublin community, as well as a “meticulous collector of historical memorabilia and stylistic specimens from various corners of the country,” donated his rich collection to the Lublin university. In addition to paintings, sculptures, and artistic crafts, it included items of a sentimental-patriotic nature, numismatics, and militaria, as well as peculiar creations of nature. Initially, the museum pieces were placed “in makeshift cabinets, drawers, and display cases, and in the future, were to receive appropriate museum facilities.”

The period of favorable development for the Museum ended with the outbreak of World War II. In December 1939, the collections were seized by the Germans and – as it seems – irretrievably lost.

However, in the post-war reviving University, the pre-war museum traditions were not forgotten. Thanks to the engagement of the university authorities and the extraordinary generosity of church institutions and private individuals, over the last eighty years, more than 1,700 objects have been collected at KUL.

The collections have been organized according to museum principles and standards, but their primary task is to serve as a didactic and research workshop, where academic staff conduct laboratory and practical classes with students of art history in the fields of conservation, museology, inventorying, and heritage protection. Thanks to fruitful cooperation with museums, the rich art collections of KUL can be presented to a wide audience.

Dr. Krzysztof Przylicki

Curator of the Museum Collections Studio KUL

The exhibition opening will take place on September 16, 2015, in the building of the Institute of Environmental Engineering KUL in Stalowa Wola. At the Regional Museum in Stalowa Wola, the exhibition will be available from September 11.

Exhibition curator: Dr. Krzysztof Przylicki, curator of the Museum Collections Studio KUL in Lublin

Coordination on the part of the Regional Museum in Stalowa Wola: Monika Kuraś, Anna Szlązak

EDUCATIONAL OFFER: for kindergartens, for primary schools grades 1-3, for primary schools grades 4-6, for middle schools, for secondary schools, for adults, for families, program for guests with disabilities.