Painting: Private arts

The Zachęta National Gallery of Art is playing host to a collection of Polish artworks dating from the mid-19th to mid-20th centuries. The show, entitled "Portrait, landscape, still nature. From Siemiradzki to Czapski," is part the collection of Krzysztof Musiał - one of the largest and most interesting private collections of Polish art.

"This is a presentation of the most significant artistic currents in Poland," exhibition curator Julia Leopold told WBJ, stressing that some of the most renowned names in Polish art are on show. Olga Boznańska, Józef Czapski, Wojciech Gerson, Wojciech Kossak, Józef Pankiewicz, Henryk Siemiradzki, Wojciech Weiss, Leon Wyczółkowski and Stanisław Wyspiański are just a few artists from the canon of art history on display.

Musiał's complete collection, which he has been putting together since 1990, includes some 700 works, including 450 paintings, 40 sculptures and spatial forms, and around 250 sketches, designs and drawings. "The idea was to present a certain overview of Polish art from the last 150 years. The selection ... is based on my individual taste," Musiał told the press.

While Zachęta is displaying only around 200 artworks from Musiał's mid-19th-20th century stash, his collection of modern works - artwork from post 1945 - will be exhibited at Galeria aTAK, located at Krakowskie Przedmieœcie 16/18, from the end of January on.

An engineer and businessman, Krzysztof Musiał was the founder of ABC Data, one of Poland's leading IT companies. His artistic interests include theater, ballet, opera, music and the visual arts. Musiał is a sponsor of the New York Metropolitan Opera and has supported various artistic projects in Poland and abroad.

The exhibition is on at the Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Pl. Malachowskiego 3, Warsaw until February 17. For more info log on to www.zacheta.art.pl