WYCZÓŁ Painting and printmaking by Leon Wyczółkowski on the 160th anniversary of the artist's birth

From his rich oeuvre, which lasted over fifty years, we present the most important issues and phenomena. The central theme is the fascination with Japanese art. The exhibition features several selected Japanese sequences and themes: Tatra landscapes (Impressions from the Tatra Mountains), trees (Jumoku), chrysanthemums (Kiku no hana), “images of flowers and birds” (Kachō-ga), and the interplay of painting formats and props (Flowers in the Window and Katagami). Additionally, portraits and a comprehensive overview of the artist’s graphics, of which he was one of the most important creators, are displayed. In total, over 60 works are presented at the exhibition.

Wyczółkowski likely encountered Japanese art in 1873 in Vienna at the World Exhibition. Subsequent visits to the World Exhibitions in Paris in 1878, 1889, and 1900 deepened his interest in Far Eastern art. Equally important were his connections in Vienna, particularly with the Vienna Secession, of which he was a member, and the local community of collectors of Japanese art. His friendship with Feliks “Manggha” Jasieński and the atmosphere of the artistic milieu of Young Poland in Krakow made Japanese art a natural reference point for Wyczółkowski. Like other artists of that time, he built his own collection of Far Eastern artistic crafts, primarily woodblock prints, which filled his studio.

Regardless of the technique he employed and the subjects he tackled, Wyczółkowski skillfully used Japanese principles governing composition, spatial construction, framing, and asymmetry throughout his life. Views of cities – Krakow, Toruń, Poznań, and Sandomierz, as well as studies of trees and flowers – engage in a free dialogue with Japanese art.

Wyczółkowski created a series of Tatra masterpieces that encompass all the key features of Japanese aesthetics and represent one of the most outstanding examples of Polish japonism. Among Wyczółkowski’s Tatra landscapes, views of Morskie Oko are predominant, being among the most important and numerous, alongside those of Czarny Staw under Rysy. Wyczółkowski’s Tatra landscapes have no parallels in Polish and European art of that era. They create a timeless, modern, and autonomous image of the Tatra Mountains.

Many reminiscences about Wyczółkowski highlight his special relationship with the forest and trees, a relationship that was akin – more than with any other subject – to the Japanese understanding and perception of Nature. Nature, of which he was an integral part, just as the trees he depicted: pines by the Baltic and in Gościeradzu, larches by Morskie Oko, oaks in Rogalin, and yews in Wierzchlesie. Similarly, flowers: anemones, marsh marigolds, and chrysanthemums were an integral part of his life and art.

Wyczółkowski was also one of the most outstanding Polish portraitists. The exhibition presents portraits from various stages of his career, including those of anonymous individuals and prominent figures from the cultural life of Young Poland and the interwar period.

Influenced by Feliks Jasieński, inspired by his enthusiasm for promoting the “aesthetics of black and white,” Wyczółkowski engaged in graphic arts, which became his primary form of expression and field for experimentation. Over nearly thirty years, he created around five hundred works.

Completing the exhibition is a collection of Far Eastern art – Japanese and Chinese – gathered by Wyczółkowski, presented for the first time in Stalowa Wola. Ukiyo-e woodblock prints, textiles, and artistic crafts. Although this collection was gathered incidentally and emotionally, it served as an inexhaustible source of inspiration for Wyczółkowski.

Anna Król

Idea, script, and artistic arrangement: Anna Król

Exhibition coordinator in Stalowa Wola: Beata Nowak-Żurawska

Graphic design of the accompanying catalog: Rafał Sosin

The works for the exhibition were lent by both private collectors, who wish to remain anonymous, and Polish museums: the Stanisław Fischer Museum in Bochni, the Mazovian Museum in Płock, the National Museum in Kielce, the National Museum in Krakow, the National Museum in Poznań, the National Museum in Warsaw, the National Museum in Wrocław, the Jacek Malczewski District Museum in Radom, the Leon Wyczółkowski District Museum in Bydgoszcz, the Podlasie Museum in Białystok, the District Museum in Suwałki, the Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology in Krakow, the Opole Silesian Museum in Opole, and the Silesian Museum in Katowice.

Exhibition hours:

Tuesday 8 AM – 6 PM

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 8 AM – 3 PM

Saturday, Sunday 4 PM – 7 PM

For more information: Beata Nowak-Żurawska, tel. 15 844 85 56, ext. 15