The Grabowski Gallery was an

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

art gallery opened in 1959 in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

by Mateusz Grabowski, anticipating the

Swinging Sixties The Swinging Sixties was a youth-driven cultural revolution that took place in the United Kingdom during the mid-to-late 1960s, emphasising modernity and fun-loving hedonism, with Swinging London as its centre. It saw a flourishing in art, mus ...

. It hosted some of the earliest shows of the rising pop art movement and was the first venue in London to bring

op art Op art, short for optical art, is a style of visual art that uses optical illusions. Op artworks are abstract, with many better-known pieces created in black and white. Typically, they give the viewer the impression of movement, hidden images ...

to the public. It launched the careers of some of Britain's and the

British Commonwealth The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...

's leading exponents of two- and three-dimensional art and fostered émigré artists from Europe, the Caribbean and the Commonwealth. By the time it closed its doors in 1975 it had mounted around two hundred shows. When the gallery closed Mateusz Grabowski donated his collection of works from the gallery to the

Museum of Art in Łódź Muzeum Sztuki, or the Museum of Art in Łódź, is a museum of modern and contemporary art in Łódź, Poland, whose main goal is to research and display avant-garde art, as well as progressive artistic interventions. The institution is housed in ...

and the

National Museum A national museum is a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In other countries a much greater numb ...

in Warsaw, Poland.

History

Founded in 1959, the gallery started as a sideline of the Polish émigré

pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist (Commonwealth English) or a druggist (North American and, archaically, Commonwealth English), is a healthcare professional who prepares, controls and distributes medicines and provides advice and instructi ...

, Mateusz Grabowski (1904-1976), who had arrived in the United Kingdom as an officer of the

Polish Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Siły Zbrojne Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, abbreviated ''SZ RP''; popularly called ''Wojsko Polskie'' in Poland, abbreviated ''WP''—roughly, the "Polish Military") are the national armed forces of ...

in 1940. After

demobilisation Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and militar ...

in the late 1940s following the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Grabowski formed a pharmaceutical business, having worked as a pharmacist in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

before the war. His innovation in London was to create a

mail order Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as: * Sending an order form in the mail * Placing a telephone call * Placing a ...

chemist to enable Polish and other resettled Central Europeans in Britain and in other parts of the

Free World The Free World is a propaganda term, primarily used during the Cold War from 1945 to 1991, to refer to the Western Bloc and similar countries. It also more broadly refers to all non- communist and democratic countries. It has traditionally pr ...

during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

to send badly needed medicines and medical supplies to their families and friends in countries under

Soviet occupation During World War II, the Soviet Union occupied and annexed several countries effectively handed over by Nazi Germany in the secret Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939. These included the eastern regions of Poland (incorporated into two different ...

where there were persistent shortages of many everyday goods. His successful business allowed him eventually to indulge his youthful passion for art, first as a collector and subsequently as a patron, by opening a gallery next to one of his chemist outlets at 84

Sloane Avenue Sloane Avenue is a road in London. Sloane Avenue runs roughly north-west to south-east from Brompton Road in Kensington to a junction with Elystan Place and Bray Place, and its short southern continuation, Anderson Street, joins the King's Road i ...

in Chelsea. It was an avowedly non-commercial venture. He reputedly mounted exhibitions in exchange for an artwork by the artist. One of its earliest shows was a group exhibition of established Polish artists.

Exhibitions

The gallery became known as a pioneer of group and solo shows of recent art school graduates, including graduates of the nearby

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...

, as well as artists from the British Commonwealth and established Polish émigré artists. Grabowski was aided by art specialists from Poland, including the leading British Polish-born curator and critic

Jasia Reichardt Jasia Reichardt (born 1933) is a British art critic, curator, art gallery director, teacher and prolific writer, specialist in the emergence of computer art. In 1968 she was curator of the landmark ''Cybernetic Serendipity'' exhibition at London's ...

and the artist

Stanisław Frenkiel Stanisław Frenkiel Royal West of England Academy, RWA (14 September 1918 in Kraków - 21 June 2001 in London) was a Polish Expressionism, expressionist painter, graphic artist, art historian, teacher, academic and writer. Life He was born in ...

. Exhibition themes and titles included ''Image in Progress'', ''Image in Revolt'', ''Inner Image'' to ''MAD - Conroy Maddox'' and ''Tomorrow's Artists''. Among the exhibitors were: 1965 OLIVER BEVAN Both Ways 1

Several of the gallery's exhibition catalogues from 1959 onwards are in the Special Collections of

Leeds University , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

Library, including catalogues for exhibitions by

Ivor Abrahams Ivor Abrahams (10 January 1935 – 6 January 2015) was a British sculptor, ceramicist and print maker best known for his polychrome sculptures and his stylised prints of garden scenes. His career long exploration of new subject matter, novel ...

, Michael Sandle and

Michael Rothenstein William Michael Rothenstein (19 March 1908 – 6 July 1993) was a British printmaker, painter and art teacher. Early life Born in Hampstead, London, on 19 March 1908, he was the youngest of four children born to the celebrated artist, Sir W ...

. The Grabowski was one of several noted contemporary art exhibition spaces initiated by émigré Poles in London. Others were Halima Nałęcz's Drian Galleries in Bayswater, Jan Wieliczko's Centaur Gallery and, longest established,

Feliks Topolski Feliks Topolski RA (14 August 1907 – 24 August 1989) was a Polish expressionist painter and draughtsman working primarily in the United Kingdom. Biography Feliks Topolski was born on 14 August 1907 in Warsaw, Poland. He studied in the Acade ...

's studio and exhibition in Waterloo.

References

External links

Gift of Mateusz Grabowski
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grabowski Gallery Art galleries in London Art museums and galleries in London 1959 establishments in England Art galleries established in 1959 Contemporary art galleries in London 1959 establishments in the United Kingdom Buildings and structures in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea History of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

Grabowski Gallery The Grabowski Gallery was an avant-garde art gallery opened in 1959 in London's Chelsea by Mateusz Grabowski, anticipating the Swinging Sixties. It hosted some of the earliest shows of the rising pop art movement and was the first venue in Lond ...

Defunct art galleries in London Art galleries disestablished in 1975

History

Exhibitions

References

Further reading

External links