Stanisław Wyspiański’s Study Room within the Gallery of Polish Painting

The present exposition of the Gallery of Polish Painting, opened in 1992 after general renovation, was conducted on the basis of the factual concept by dr Agnieszka Morawińska, curator of the Gallery of Polish Painting in the years 1980-1992. In nine halls and ten rooms one can find 400 paintings. Krzysztof Burnatowicz was the author of the artistic concept of the exposition.  Throughout the history the Gallery has occupied the same location, which has been assigned to it since the opening of the new building of the Museum in 1938.
 
In the seventh room there is a hall devoted to Stanisław Wyspiański’s oeuvre. Excellent pastels stand out from twenty presented artist’s works, among others: two self-portraits dated 1894 and 1902 and one from the series Materhood, depicting artist’s wife Teofila Pytko, breastfeeding their son Staś. The examples of excellent portraits being in the permanent exposition are: Helenka’s Head, Portrait of Józefa Krzyształowicz, Portrait of Konrad Rakowski. The most famous artist’s works are pastels: Sheaves dated 1898-1899, presenting the dream of nature, the metaphor of the nation dreaming in captivity, Madonna and Child from 1904, fragment of the project of stained glass window for the cathedral in Lvov and View of Kościuszko Mound from a window in the artist's studio made in the last years of artist’s life. 
 

The exposition of Wyspiański’s works is accompanied with the bronze sculpture by Sławomir Celiński (1852-1918) Whistle and Whizz (Świst i Poświst) dated around 1910.