Microworlds. Small-Format Paintings ()
Featuring paintings selected – in addition to their historical and artistic value – for their small format (not exceeding 40 x 40 cm), the present exhibition is the first of this kind staged at the National Museum in Wrocław. It has been inspired by the idea of presenting to the public a rich treasure trove of paintings that because of their miniature size are often excluded from permanent galleries and rarely included in temporary shows. The exhibition showcases 130 pictures. As for the paintings’ provenance, they come from various parts of Europe, but – reflecting the collection’s history – works created in Poland and Silesia dominate. The former group mostly encompasses works from prewar Polish collections in the territories incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1945 that were transferred to Wrocław in 1946. The core of the collection of Silesian painting comes from the former museums in Breslau (Wrocław).
The paintings on display, very diverse in terms of style, subject, genre, and date of creation, have been arranged in thematic groups. Of special interest are those whose small format is a distinctive and constitutive feature of the artist’s approach. In particular, this applies to two artistic phenomena: the miniature landscapes of Jan Stanisławski and his circle and the lasting influence of the Dutch so-called “Little Masters” of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Specializing in smaller-scale works, these artists had developed a repertory of suitable motifs and compositional schemes, their inspiration reverberating in works by painters of later generations.
The featured works demonstrate that their diminutive format has neither limited the creative expression of the artists traditionally associated with larger canvases nor did it prevent rendering lofty subjects or addressing sincere social concerns. It is also worthy of note that in some cases, the work’s small format has been conducive to creative freedom resulting in innovative formal solutions.
As for the featured artists, famous and obscure names intermingle while the paintings’ diminutive size becomes an equalizer, undermining the established hierarchies and reminding us that art history has its peripheries and margins harbouring interesting discoveries. The exhibition proposes a new perspective on the National Museum’s collection: not only does it showcase pieces usually hidden from view, but it also places them in new contexts.
Complementing the paintings, select miniature objects are also on display: curious, precious and surprising, they convey a sense of wonder often associated with diminutive scale.
[Anna Jezierska, Małgorzata Macura]
Jan Stanisławski and his circle
Stanisławski’s signature “little pictures” of nature are manifestly small great paintings. He studied at The Warsaw Drawing Class taught by Wojciech Gerson and then at the School of Fine Arts in Kraków and later continued art education in Paris. His initial fascination with Impressionism and focus on pure visual phenomena gave way to evocative, emotionally saturated views of nature. Stanisławski’s miniature landscapes testify to his supreme sensibility to nature’s changing appearance, volatile phenomena, and fleeting moods, and reveal his extraordinary sense of colour. He was inspired by Wojciech Gerson to whom, according to his fellow painter Józef Chełmoński, “nature was the best teacher and supreme model” [quoted after S. Krzysztofowicz-Kozakowska, Jan Stanisławski i jego uczniowie, Kraków 2004(?)].
In 1897, Stanisławski was appointed by Julian Fałat to head the reactivated Chair of Landscape at the School of Fine Arts in Kraków. He proved a talented organizer and charismatic, widely admired mentor. He introduced obligatory outdoor painting sessions for students and took them to various locations in the vicinity of Kraków and further south to the Tatra Mountains, in various seasons of the year. “The landscape course he taught at the School of Fine Arts had its special atmosphere and climate, its own vibrant life, and has produced a characteristic style that has earned its place in the history of Polish painting. Stanisławski’s disciples, fledging painters eager to capture the world: it was a sight to behold. (…) Stanisławski delighted in his students’ creative joy” [Antoni Waśkowski, quoted after S. Krzysztofowicz-Kozakowska]. He insisted they must seek their own path rather than imitate his style and miniature formats. He mentored over sixty young artists. Works by some of them (Jan Wojnarski, Józef Grein, Józef Wodyński, Maria Niedzielska, Wlastimil Hofman, Stanisław Czajkowski) are featured at the exhibition.
[Anna Jezierska]
Maria Niedzielska
As a woman, Maria Niedzielska had no access to state-funded higher art education, so she attended private art schools in Kraków, Munich, and Paris, systematically building her position in the art world. She settled in Kraków where she founded her School of Fine Arts for Women in 1908: its teaching methods were modern and faculty distinguished: Leon Wyczółkowski, Jacek Malczewski, and Włodzimierz Tetmajer taught painting and the famous collector and erudite Feliks Jasieński lectured on art. Niedzielska questioned the academic approach distinguishing between “pure” and applied arts. She organized art workshops for children. Among the alumnae of her school were many women artist who would rise to prominence during the interwar period: Zofia Stryjeńska, Maja Berezowska, and Alicja Halicka.
Niedzielska’s interest in capturing nature in a succinct, abbreviated manner was similar to that informing the miniature landscapes of Jan Stanisławski, regarded as the supreme master of the genre. Notably, Stanisławski taught at Tola Certowiczówna’s Art School for Women attended by Niedzielska. The paintress opposed thoughtless copying foreign art and instead emphasized the importance of inspiration provided by vernacular landscape and artistic tradition.
Having experienced them herself, Niedzielska was vocal about the difficulties faced in the period’s social reality by women trying to manage both an artistic career and family life.
[Małgorzata Macura]