A short but prolific life

Andrzej Wróblewski was one of Poland's most outstanding and independent post-war artists, creating an original and highly suggestive brand of figurative painting. Now, 50 years after his death, the National Museum in Warsaw has prepared an exhibition presenting his oeuvre.

This exhibit, entitled "Andrzej Wróblewski 1927-1957. On the 50th anniversary of the artist's death," focuses only on a few of the motifs which Wróblewski's artistic activity touched on. The selected paintings show how his idea of art for the masses evolved from his first abstract paintings through works created in accordance with the rules of the Self-Educating Group (Grupa Samokształceniowa), The group was established by Wróblewski, whose aim was the creation of art in which aesthetic and ideological elements were indivisibly connected. Wróblewski's artistic development continued through a flirtation with social realism to his late-period creativity, in which he explored an interest in family and human existence.

In addition to showing the evolution of the artist, the exhibition aims to display some sources which inspired or influenced Wróblewski. His works are accompanied by objects d'art by Mexican, French and Italian artists, among which examples of neorealism can be seen. Film also had a great impact on the painter, and fragments of Fellini's La Strada are also shown.

"[This film] is a key to understanding many motifs in his late works. Traces of this inspiration can be seen in gouache and oil paintings shown in the exhibit," said Joanna Kordjak-Piotrowska, the exhibition's curator.

The exhibition is open from March 9 to May 6