The exhibition features several dozen works, including oil paintings, watercolors, and drawings from private collections and museums across Poland. This includes genre compositions, works inspired by Japanese art, self-portraits, winter landscapes, and masterful hunting scenes.
JULIAN FAŁAT (1853-1929) primarily painted watercolors; his works depict hunting scenes set in winter scenery (among the most famous are The Spear-Throwers and Return from the Hunt), wild animals, landscapes, architectural views, folk types, and portraits, as well as genre scenes. He was also the author of a winter landscape featured in the panorama Berezyna, which the envious Kossak family cut into pieces. In his work, he masterfully created atmosphere and emotion. Initially, he painted in a realistic style, but over time he lightened his palette, moving closer to the principles of Impressionism. Around 1900, his painting, especially in atmospheric, subdued landscapes, revealed clear connections to Japanese art.
Fałat was the first Polish painter of peasant descent who achieved artistic education solely through his own efforts, without the assistance of family or scholarships. His interest in watercolor painting stemmed from poverty—he could not afford expensive oil paints. He graduated from the Cracow School of Fine Arts, where he became rector in 1895 and thoroughly reformed it, transforming it into the Academy of Fine Arts. Later, he became involved in the activities of the Polish Artists Society Sztuka.
The exhibition is accompanied by a catalog-album.
Exhibition curator: Anna Król
Collaboration: Anna Szlązak
Open daily: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 8:00 AM – 3:30 PM, Tuesday 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM; Saturday and Sunday 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM.
