2 March 2005

The National Museum in Warsaw invites art lovers to the exhibition entitled Brittany and Polish Painters in Brittany (1890-1939), the widest presentation of Breton art to date in Poland.

A similar exhibition, organized by the National Museum in Warsaw and Musée Départemental Breton in Quimper, was shown in France last year. Six months ago the Bretons were introduced to the Polish artistic community, which had lived and worked in France from the late 19th century until World War II. The exhibition in Quimper, entitled Polish Painters in Brittany, featured 110 paintings, drawings and prints, including works by Olga Boznańska, Władysław Ślewiński, Józef Pankiewicz, Tadeusz Makowski, Mela Muter, Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (Witkacy), Eugeniusz Zak and Mojżesz Kisling. The exhibition enjoyed enormous popularity and the Museum in Quimper reported record attendance.

The exhibition now presented at the National Museum has been supplemented by works of Breton artists. It is divided into two parts-the ground floor features French paintings, sculpture, prints and drawings. Posters by Charles-Jean Hallo, paintings by Georges Roger, drawings by Emile Bernard and prints by Paul Gauguin and Henri Riviere reveal the unusual beauty of the Breton landscape. Upstairs are works by Polish artists featuring local landscapes and people. Many well-known works, of major importance for the history of Polish art, were made in Brittany. These include Makowski's painting Shoemaker, Ślewiński's famous seascapes and portraits of Breton people, and expressive portraits by Mela Muter.

This artistic landscape of Brittany is supplemented by over 200 additional exhibits: paintings, drawings, colorful Breton costumes, world-famous Quimper ceramics and folk prints as well as local traditional and cultural objects.

The exhibition is accompanied by a two-section catalogue and a wide educational program, the highlight of which will be a Breton Day to be held in the National Museum March 13 at 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Visitors will have an opportunity to tour the exhibition with the curator, listen to Breton legends and music, see a slide show and learn how to make Breton galettes (crepes).

National Museum, 3 Jerozolimskie Ave., through March 28

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