National Museum - Main Building
Kraków Artists: Painters and Sculptors
A museum created by a resolution of the Kraków City Council of 7 October 1879, entered in the State Register of Museums in 1998. It began with two renovated rooms on the upper floor of the Cloth Hall, and today, besides the Main Building at Aleja 3 Maja 1, it comprises eleven branches in historic buildings in the centre of Kraków. The core of the collection is formed by works of Polish art or art related to Poland, such as "Nero's Torches" by Henryk Siemiradzki, "Frenzy of Exultations" by Władysław Podkowiński and "Girl with Chrysanthemums" by Olga Boznańska. The museum's structure includes biographical museums commemorating chosen Kraków artists, among them Jan Matejko, Józef Mehoffer and Stanisław Wyspiański.
History
The National Museum in Kraków was founded by a resolution of the City Council of 7 October 1879. On the same day Henryk Siemiradzki gave it its first work, the painting "Nero's Torches". Its first home was the Cloth Hall, where museum rooms were set up on the upper floors; they quickly filled with gifts from artists and collectors. The first director was the painter and art historian Władysław Łuszczkiewicz.
In 1921 a committee was set up to build a new building, conceived as a Monument to Freedom. The economic crisis delayed the plans, and on the initiative of Mieczysław Kaplicki, the Mayor of Kraków, the decision to go ahead was taken in 1931. The design was carried out by Czesław Boratyński, Edward Kreisler and Bolesław Schmidt. In 1934, at an international conference on museum building in Madrid, the Polish design was praised by delegates from 18 countries. Construction began before the war, and during the occupation the unfinished building served as a casino. After the war work resumed, with Włodzimierz Marona as the chief designer. The New Building was formally opened on 28 November 1957. The façade is made of Triassic Diplopora dolomite, probably from Libiąż.
Today the building houses permanent exhibitions. The Gallery of European Art opened in a new form on 3 December 2025, the Gallery of Decorative Arts presents objects from the early Middle Ages to Art Nouveau, and the XX + XXI. Gallery of Polish Art shows art from Young Poland to the present day on more than 3,000 square metres, including canvases by Olga Boznańska, Jan Stanisławski, Wojciech Weiss, Jacek Malczewski, Wyspiański and Mehoffer. The museum also includes biographical branches devoted to, among others, Jan Matejko, Józef Mehoffer and Stanisław Wyspiański.
Did you know?
The floor of the first-floor hall is laid with Upper Jurassic limestone from Morawica, in which you can see the skeletons of belemnites. The steps in front of the entrance, in turn, are made of Volhynian klesovite.