The exhibition "WROCLAWSKIE IMPRESJE" / "WROCLAW IMPRESSIONS" will present paintings, prints and drawings from the collection of the National Museum in Wroclaw.

The exhibition WROCLAWSKIE IMPRESJE / WROCLAW IMPRESSIONS will present paintings, prints and drawings from the collection of the National Museum in Wroclaw. The display will consists of works by twenty Wroclaw-based artists of the first two generations born after World War II. The first of these consisted of "pioneers" who laid the foundations for the creative community that was forming in the Regained Territories at the time. These painters shaped and strongly influenced artistic needs of the time and formulated artistic concepts. Mostly colorists, they were fascinated by color and light. The group consisted of professors of the State Higher School of the Visual Arts in Wroclaw like Eugeniusz Geppert, Maria and Stanislaw Dawski, Hanna Krzetuska, all of whom were tremendous opinion-makers and strongly influenced the creative stances of young artists. A new generation established itself in the mid 1950s, having emerged from what was a different educational environment. Its members abandoned imposed canons, sought out different, novel means of visual expression, an unusual, more modern style. They did not resist prevailing moods and emotions, had the courage to dream, struggled with the substance of painting. Their painting was hardly confined to realism and included forays into metaphorical painting, surrealism and abstract expressionism in its various incarnations - from Tachisme to Matter painting. Through its passion, this generation breathed new energy into artistic life, eliciting a broad movement towards cooperation at many levels and in many realms. In 1962 the professors of the first generation joined their former students in creating an association known as the SZKOLA WROCLAWSKA / WROCLAW SCHOOL, which in 1967 changed its name to GRUPA WROCLAWSKA / WROCLAW GROUP. In the 1970s artistic emotions subsided and stabilized, only to enter a rebellious phase once again in recent years. Many painters of the WROCLAW GROUP have directed their creative thinking towards avant-garde exploration in times characterized by the advent new artistic and conceptual currents that question paintings as manifestations of universal creative expression.

Jozef Gielniak, "Sanatorium IV / The Sanatorium IV", 1958 foto: Edmund Witecki

The exhibition WROCLAW IMPRESSIONS provides an excellent lesson in the history of painting, the graphic arts and illustration in the city of Wroclaw after World War II. It presents works by some of the most unusual artists of the period, including Hanna Krzetuska (1903-1999), Natalia Lach-Lachowicz (b. 1937), Krzeslawa Maliszewska (b. 1927), Maria Michalowska (b. 1925), Anna Szpakowska-Kujawska (b. 1931), Janina Zamojtel (b. 1931), Jan Chwalczyk (b. 1924), Waldemar Cwenarski (1926-1953), Stanislaw Dawski (1905-1990), Eugeniusz Geppert (1890-1979), Jozef Gielniak (1932-1972), Kazimierz Glaz (b. 1931), Jozef Halas (b. 1927), Kazimierz Holler (1881-1975), Konrad Jarodzki (b. 1927), Zdzislaw Jurkiewicz (b. 1931), Alfons Mazurkiewicz (1922-1975), Zbigniew Paluszak (b. 1931), Jerzy Rosolowicz (1928-1982) and Waclaw Szpakowski (1926-1983).

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue compiled by art critic Mariusz Hermansdorfer, director of the Wroclaw branch of the National Museum, creator of one of the most interesting collections of Polish contemporary art. The catalogue contains Hermansdorfer's essay about the history of the contemporary art community in Wroclaw as well as the author's notes on individual artists, containing personal impressions, thoughts and observations.

Exhibition opening: June 26, 2004, at 7 p.m.

National Museum in Wroclaw
Muzeum Narodowe we Wrocławiu
pl. Powstańców Warszawy 5, 50-153 Wrocław
Director: mgr Mariusz Hermansdorfer
tel. (+48 71) 372 51 50,372 51 51, 372 51 53, 372 51 56
fax (+48 71) 343 56 43
www.mnwr.art.pl; www.mn.wroclaw.pl

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