Józef Czapski

The biographical exhibition devoted to Józef Czapski (1896–1993) is a permanent part of the gallery of the Józef Czapski Pavilion, located in the garden of MNK branch – The Czapski.

Józef Czapski was a painter, writer and art theorist, grandson of Emeryk Hutten-Czapski of the Leliwa coat of arms, and a great benefactor of the National Museum in Krakow. Czapski studied in St. Petersburg, Warsaw and Paris. Mobilized in 1939, he was captured by the USSR, then joined the Polish Armed Forces (Anders’ Army), with which he travelled through the Middle East and Italy. After the war, he settled in Maisons-Laffitte near Paris, where he lived and worked until the end of his life, deprived of the possibility of returning to Poland for almost 40 years. He was a co-founder of Kultura [‘Culture’] and Polski Instytut Literacki [Literary Institute Association], which determined the censorship that limited the publication of his work in the PRL [Polish People’s Republic].

The exhibition in Józef Czapski’s pavilion presents the history of his life in the context of war and emigration experiences. Multimedia stations were used to present the works and the archive of photographs and documents. Part of the exhibition is the reconstructed room of the painter from the house of the Literary Institute in Maisons-Laffitte, moved and mapped on a 1:1 scale.

The authors of the exhibition’s script are Krystyna Zachwatowicz and her husband, Andrzej Wajda – friends of the artist and guardians of the collection of memorabilia related to Józef Czapski in the MNK collections.