Stanisław Wyspiański Museum
Kraków Artists: Painters and Sculptors
A biographical museum devoted to Stanisław Wyspiański, a branch of the National Museum in Kraków, in the Old Granary at General Władysław Sikorski Square 6. The National Museum has the largest collection of Wyspiański's works, over 1,100 objects, as well as his private library, personal mementoes, manuscripts and photographs. The first biographical exhibition opened in 1983 in a townhouse at Kanonicza Street 9, and since 2 December 2021 the collection has been shown in the Old Granary, built in the 18th century. The permanent exhibition presents about 200 works, mostly visual art, which are changed during the year because of conservation requirements.
History
Stanisław Wyspiański, born in Kraków in 1869 and died here in 1907, was a painter, graphic artist, architect and playwright of the Young Poland period. He studied at the Kraków School of Fine Arts under Jan Matejko, and his play "Wesele" (The Wedding) of 1901 made him famous. He also left stained-glass windows and wall paintings in the Franciscan Church.
The idea of a separate museum devoted to the artist arose in the 1930s. The first permanent biographical exhibition opened in 1983 in the tenement house at Kanonicza Street 9. On the same street stands Długosz House, where Franciszek Wyspiański, a sculptor and the artist's father, set up his studio, and where Stanisław himself spent 11 years of his life. When the exhibition closed in 2002, the collection moved to the Szołayski House, where it was shown from 2003 to 2012.
Since 2 December 2021 the museum, a branch of the National Museum in Kraków, has been housed in the Old Granary at Sikorskiego Square 6. The building was put up in the 18th century just outside the city's defensive walls, served the National Museum as a storehouse for years, and in 2013 became home to the "Europeum" Centre for European Culture.
The National Museum holds the largest collection of Wyspiański's work, more than 1,100 items, together with his books, manuscripts, photographs and personal mementoes. About 200 works can be seen in the permanent exhibition, mostly works on paper, so they are rotated from time to time for conservation reasons. The ground floor is given over to portraits of the artist, his wife, children and friends, and to views of Kraków and the Kościuszko Mound. Upstairs, three strands of his work are presented: "Żywioły" (The Elements), "Wawel - dramat królów" (Wawel - a Drama of Kings) and "Apollo-Chrystus" (Apollo-Christ), while in the basement, in the "Księgi moje" (My Books) room, stands his library.
Did you know?
After the war, there were plans to set up a Wyspiański museum in houses where he had lived: at Kanonicza Street 25 or at Krowoderska Street 79, where he had his "sapphire studio".