Dublin Gallery To Present Paintings From Poland

Komunikat Praswoy

The National Gallery of Ireland today (Tuesday, 28th August) announced that AIB - one of Ireland's leading banking and financial services companies - is corporate sponsor of the exhibition Paintings from Poland: Symbolism to Modern Art (1880-1939), which will open to visitors in the Gallery's Millennium Wing from Wednesday October 17th, 2007. Admission is free.

The exhibition, comprising more than 70 paintings spanning the period 1880 to 1939, has been selected from the National Museum in Warsaw, with loans from private collections and other galleries in Poland including the National Museum in Cracow and the Tatra Museum in Zakopane.

Eugene Sheehy, Chief Executive Officer of AIB, said: "We are delighted to be associated with this landmark Polish exhibition. It is the largest ever exhibition of Polish art to come to Ireland, and Dublin is the only European venue. This exhibition will create a greater awareness of Poland's cultural legacy and is sure to have appeal not just to the country's large Polish community but to the Irish people as well."

Raymond Keaveney, Director, says that AIB's sponsorship of the show has greatly assisted the National Gallery in bringing this important exhibition of Polish art to a wider audience.

Paintings from Poland is a collaboration between the National Museum in Warsaw and the National Gallery of Ireland. It is curated by Dr. Dorota Folga-Januszewska, Director of Collections and Research at the National Museum in Warsaw, with Fionnuala Croke, Head of Exhibitions, National Gallery of Ireland.

The exhibition is divided into three sections. The survey begins at the turn of the 19th century, continues through a period of rapid transformation, and ends with the outbreak of World War II. The focus is on the meaning of symbolism, which, despite the passage of time, remains one of the most characteristic intellectual trends of Polish culture.

Dr. Dorota Folga-Januszewska says: "The period from which the works on display in this exhibition originate, marks a stage of Polish history decisive to contemporary Poland's culture and identity. During their lifetime, two generations of artists witnessed changes which were experienced with a rapidity unequalled in those times."

Poland's turbulent history helps to contextualise some of the imagery in the art of the period. Seen in a wider European context, the exhibition provides a rare opportunity to see some of the most important works of an extraordinarily creative artistic culture in a period of national upheaval.

Among the works included in the display will be Stanczyk, 1898 (a jester or clown) by Leon Wyczólkowski (1852-1936); Portrait of Painter Bronislaw Brykner in Fancy Costume, 1908 by Kazimierz Stabrowski (1869-1929); Children's Train, 1905, and Abduction of a Princess , 1908, both by Witold Wojtkiewicz (1879-1909).

The exhibition will also show works by two generations of artists: Jacek Malczewski (1854-1929) and his son Rafel Malczweski (1892-1965); Stanislaw Witkiewicz (1851-1915) and his son Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz, called Witkacy, (1885-1939). -- www.nationalgallery.ie