TThe Modern Art Department of the National Museum in Kraków collects works of art created between approximately 1764 and 1914: paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints and photographs. These works are displayed in exhibitions at the MNK Matejko House, the Gallery of 19th-Century Polish Art in the MNK Sukiennice, and the MNK Mehoffer House.
Modern Art Department
Head: Urszula Kozakowska-Zaucha
The Department’s collection is one of the largest and most diverse in the Museum’s holdings. It comprises:
1. A collection of 19th-century Polish painting and drawing, comprising works created mainly in the 19th century, but also in the second half of the 18th century and at the beginning of the 20th century. These are works by artists such as: Franciszek Smuglewicz, Marcello Bacciarelli, MNK Matejko, Maurycy Gottlieb, Henryk Rodakowski, Witold Pruszkowski, Józef Chełmoński and Stanisław Witkiewicz. The collection includes a valuable selection of works by Piotr Michałowski and Henryk Siemiradzki. The works of Aleksander Kotsis and Aleksander Gierymski are also well represented. The Department also holds a collection of 18th- and 19th-century portrait paintings.
Contact:
Dr Aleksandra Krypczyk de Barra akrypczyk@mnk.pl
Dr Barbara Ciciora bciciora@mnk.pl
2. Collection of art from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries – this is a particularly rich collection of art reflecting the fundamental aesthetic and ideological principles of the era. It comprises paintings, drawings and prints by the most outstanding Polish artists of the time: MNK Wyspiański, Jacek Malczewski, Józef Mehoffer, Olga Boznańska, Jan Stanisławski, Witold Wojtkiewicz, Wojciech Weiss, Leon Wyczółkowski, Ferdynand Ruszczyc, as well as the sculptors Ludwik Puget, Konstanty Laszczka and Wacław Szymanowski. These works are complemented by the largest collection of Young Poland posters in the collection. These are mostly donations from private individuals, including, above all, Feliks ‘Mangghi’ Jasieński, Erazm Barącz, Leon Kostka and Stanisław Tomkowicz.
Contact:
Urszula Kozakowska-Zaucha: ukozakowska@mnk.pl – Young Poland art
Beata Studziżba-Kubalska bstudzizba@mnk.pl – the work of MNK Mehoffer
Krystyna Kulig Janarek kkulig@mnk.pl
Irena Buchenfeld ibuchenfeld@mnk.pl
3. The collection of historical photographs, which comprises over 80,000 Polish and foreign items from the years 1850–1945.
It consists of two main groups: photographs and reproductions. The photographs are predominantly prints, but there are also negatives, daguerreotypes and individual prints on metal, leather and oilcloth. The photographers include some of the most famous names, such as Karol Beyer, Michał Greim, Ignacy Krieger and Walery Rzewuski. The rich and diverse collection includes, amongst other things, portraits of famous figures and documentation of works of art: architecture, painting, sculpture and decorative arts. It also contains archival photographs depicting the interiors and buildings of the branches of the National Museum in Kraków.
The reproductions are taken from magazines published in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and include elegant heliogravures. A separate category is the collection of postcards, numbering over 6,000 items. It consists mainly of reproductions, with far fewer postcards in the form of photographic prints, bearing stamps and correspondence.
Contact:
Rafał Róg rrog@mnk.pl
Magdalena Święch mswiech@mnk.pl
Dr Joanna Kostecka jkostecka@mnk.pl
