{"id":33559,"date":"2026-05-06T08:55:05","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T08:55:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.mnk.pl\/wilhelm-sasnal-crawl-in-black-kraul-czarnego\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T05:54:27","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T05:54:27","slug":"wilhelm-sasnal-crawl-in-black-kraul-czarnego","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.mnk.pl\/en\/wilhelm-sasnal-crawl-in-black-kraul-czarnego\/","title":{"rendered":"Wilhelm Sasnal, “Crawl in Black\/Kraul Czarnego”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The National Museum in Krak\u00f3w has received funding from the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, drawn from the Culture Promotion Fund as part of the \u2018Regional Contemporary Art Collections\u2019 programme, for the purchase of Wilhelm Sasnal\u2019s painting \u2018Crawl in Black\/Kraul Czarnego\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Painted in 2015, this large-scale painting was created following the artist\u2019s stay on the island of Leros, to which refugees were arriving at the time from nearby Turkey. It depicts, in dramatic foreshortening, the hand of a man swimming. The work addresses a contemporary global issue: the ongoing mass migration of refugees to Europe from war-torn Syria. Refugees were making their way to the Greek islands in the most primitive of boats. The hand of the swimmer scooping up water is, on the one hand, the hand of a modern-day Icarus, who wishes to realise his dream of a better life; on the other hand, it is the hand of a desperate man who, having nothing to lose, decides to act on the very edge of reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wilhelm Sasnal is a leading, world-renowned painter of his generation. His choice of subjects and motifs is drawn from observations of the real world and offers a creative commentary on reality. He has gained international popularity thanks to the conciseness, brevity and topicality of his painting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sasnal\u2019s works are held, amongst others, in the collections of the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Saatchi Gallery and Tate Modern in London, and the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim Museum in New York. The artist is one of the most highly regarded in the art world, and his work is regarded as an expression of talent and hard work, and a showcase for Polish contemporary art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The purchase was co-financed by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage from the Culture Promotion Fund under the \u2018Regional Contemporary Art Collections\u2019 programme, as part of the project entitled Wilhelm Sasnal, \u2018Crawl in Black\/Kraul Czarnego\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n