Muzeum Sztuki, or the Museum of Art in Łódź, is a

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

modern Modern may refer to: History *Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Philosophy ...

and

contemporary art Contemporary art is a term used to describe the art of today, generally referring to art produced from the 1970s onwards. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a ...

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, whose main goal is to research and display the history of

avant-garde art In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable t ...

, with a focus on

Central and Eastern Europe Central and Eastern Europe is a geopolitical term encompassing the countries in Baltic region, Northeast Europe (primarily the Baltic states, Baltics), Central Europe (primarily the Visegrád Group), Eastern Europe, and Southeast Europe (primaril ...

. Founded in 1931, Muzeum Sztuki became the first museum in Europe and the second museum in the world (after

The Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, and includes over 200,000 works of arc ...

in New York) dedicated to collecting and showcasing modern art. The museum opened to the public on 15 February 1931 as the International Collection of Modern Art, organized by several Polish avant-garde artists associated with the

a.r. group The a.r. group ("revolutionary artists" or "real avant-garde") was an avant-garde art group set up by Władysław Strzemiński, Katarzyna Kobro, and Henryk Stażewski in 1929, who had previously been members of Blok and Praesens. Rather than ...

, including

Władysław Strzemiński Władysław Strzemiński (Polish pronunciation: ; ; 21 November 1893 – 26 December 1952) was a Polish painter, art theoretician, pedagogue, and soldier. He is regarded as a pioneer of Constructivist avant-garde of the 1920s and 1930s and the ...

Katarzyna Kobro Katarzyna Kobro (26 January 1898 – 21 February 1951) was a Polish avant-garde sculptor and a prominent representative of the Constructivist movement in Poland. A pioneer of innovative multi-dimensional abstract sculpture, she rejected A ...

and

Henryk Stażewski Henryk Stażewski (pronounced: ; 9 January 1894 – 10 June 1988) was a Polish painter, visual artist and writer. Stażewski has been described as the "father of the Polish avant-garde" and is considered a pivotal figure in the history of Cons ...

, among others. The early collection encompassed a diverse range of avant-garde styles such as

Cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...

Futurism Futurism ( ) was an Art movement, artistic and social movement that originated in Italy, and to a lesser extent in other countries, in the early 20th century. It emphasized dynamism, speed, technology, youth, violence, and objects such as the ...

Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an anti-establishment art movement that developed in 1915 in the context of the Great War and the earlier anti-art movement. Early centers for dadaism included Zürich and Berlin. Within a few years, the movement had s ...

Surrealism Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

, Formism, and Unism. The museum's early years in the 1930s saw expansion under director Marian Minich, enriching the collection with Polish modern art. Following the end of World War II and the imposition of

Stalinism in Poland Stalinism (, ) is the totalitarian means of governing and Marxist–Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1927 to 1953 by dictator Joseph Stalin and in Soviet satellite states between 1944 and 1953. Stalinism inc ...

, the museum remained under Minich's directorship and moved to the Poznański family palace in 1948. The same year, the Neoplastic Room, an experimental exhibition space designed to display avant-garde art, was opened at the museum. The institution was nationalized and the museum's name changed to Muzeum Sztuki in 1950. During the 1950s, in the wake of the

Khrushchev Thaw The Khrushchev Thaw (, or simply ''ottepel'')William Taubman, Khrushchev: The Man and His Era, London: Free Press, 2004 is the period from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s when Political repression in the Soviet Union, repression and Censorship in ...

, the museum returned to a more robust international program, collaborating with Western gallerists and artists such as

Denise René Denise René (born Denise Bleibtreu; June 1913 – 9 July 2012) was a French art gallerist specializing in kinetic art and op art. Life and work Denise René believed that art must invent new paths in order to exist. The first exhibitions organ ...

and

Michel Seuphor Fernand Berckelaers (10 March 1901, in Borgerhout – 12 February 1999, in Paris), pseudonym Michel Seuphor (anagram of Orpheus), was a Belgian painter. Seuphor established a literary magazine, '' Het Overzicht'', in Antwerp in 1921. He moved i ...

, among others. This approach developed further under the directorship of Ryszard Stanisławski who led the institution between 1966 and 1990. Notable contributions included a donation of selected works by the German artist

Joseph Beuys Joseph Heinrich Beuys ( ; ; 12 May 1921 – 23 January 1986) was a German artist, teacher, performance artist, and Aesthetics, art theorist whose work reflected concepts of humanism and sociology. With Heinrich Böll, , Caroline Tisdall, Rober ...

in 1981 and an artistic exchange with the

Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) is a contemporary art museum with two locations in greater Los Angeles, California. The main branch is located on Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, near the Walt Disney Concert Hall. MOCA's ori ...

organized in 1982. The museum later acquired the Edward Herbst Palace and planned for new developments in the former Izrael Poznański factory. Currently, the institution consists of three branches: ''ms¹'', ''ms²'' and Herbst Palace Museum (Polish: ''Muzeum Pałac Herbsta''). In 1998 Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź was entered into the Polish National Register of Museums under number 53.

Mission

Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź is primarily focused on studying and displaying the collection of 20th and 21st century art in a variety of contexts, as well as on providing progressive artistic interventions and enhancing the role of art as element of social life, e.g., through educational activities. Its programme coincides with avant-garde project worked out at the turn of the 1920s and 1930s by the “a.r.” group or, more precisely, by

and

) and with the idea developed by Ryszard Stanisławski (Muzeum's director in 1966–1992) of a “museum as a critical instrument”. These ideas are further expanded in the assumption, according to which a museum is capable of re-defining and updating notions pertaining to art and culture and establishing social relations with the involvement of art. Through exhibition, research, educational and publishing programme, the Muzeum strives to practice the idea of art as a way to experience, feel and understand the reality, which was a part of avant-garde dream of creative life available to all.Przemieszczenia. Kolekcja Sztuki XX i XXI wieku, Łódź 2010

History of the collection

1920s – the "a.r" collection

Muzeum Sztuki was established as a result of reorganisation of Łódź museums in 1930. The core of its collection is based on works of modern art collected in Poland and abroad by the

in the period 1929–1932 and supplemented until 1938. The initiator and the main driving force behind the action of collecting the donations from artists was a painter and art theoretician

, actively supported by

– a sculptor,

– painter, as well as Jan Brzękowski and

Julian Przyboś Julian Przyboś (5 March 1901 – 6 October 1970) was a Polish poet, essayist and translator, one of the most important poets of the Kraków Avant-Garde. Life Przyboś was born in Gwoźnica near Strzyżów to a peasant family. From 1912, h ...

– poets.

The Collection in its ideological dimension reflects Strzemiński's artistic preferences, although its final shape was the product of the activities of many people, including Henryk Stażewski,

Hans Arp Hans Peter Wilhelm Arp (; ; 16 September 1886 – 7 June 1966), better known as Jean Arp in English, was a German-French sculptor, painter and poet. He was known as a Dadaist and an abstract artist. Early life Arp was born Hans Peter Wilhelm Ar ...

and Michel Seuphor. It presents an overview of avant-garde strands and tendencies of the late 1920s and includes masterpieces of Abstractionists, such as

and SophieTaeuber-Arp,

Theo van Doesburg Theo van Doesburg (; born Christian Emil Marie Küpper; 30 August 1883 – 7 March 1931) was a Dutch painter, writer, poet and architect. He is best known as the founder and leader of De Stijl. He married three times. Personal life Theo van Do ...

Jean Gorin Albert Jean Gorin (2 December 1899 – 29 March 1981) was a French neoplastic painter and constructive sculptor. He was a disciple of Piet Mondrian, and remained true to the concept of rigid geometricism and use of primary colors, but pushed the ...

, Jean Helion, Vilmos Huszar, Henryk Stażewski or Georges Vantongerloo. The collection also includes artworks of artists representing Cubism (e.g.,

Fernand Léger Joseph Fernand Henri Léger (; February 4, 1881 – August 17, 1955) was a French painting, painter, sculpture, sculptor, and film director, filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of cubism (known as "tubism") which he gradually ...

, Louis Marcoussis),

(Enrico Prampolini),

(

Kurt Schwitters Kurt Hermann Eduard Karl Julius Schwitters (20 June 1887 – 8 January 1948) was a German artist. He was born in Hanover, Germany, but lived in exile from 1937. Schwitters worked in several genres and media, including Dadaism, Constructivism (a ...

(

Max Ernst Max Ernst (; 2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German-born painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and surrealism in Europe. He had no formal artistic trai ...

, Kurt Seligmann), Formism (e.g.,

Leon Chwistek Leon Chwistek (Kraków, Austria-Hungary, 13 June 1884 – Barvikha near Moscow, Russia, 20 August 1944) was a Polish logician, philosopher, mathematician, avant-garde painter, theoretician of modern art and literary critic. Career and philosoph ...

Tytus Czyżewski Tytus Czyżewski (28 December 1880 in Przyszowa – 5 May 1945 in Kraków) was a Polish painter, art theoretician, Futurism (art), Futurist poet, playwright, member of the Formizm, Polish Formists and a Kapists, Colorist. Biography In 1902 he s ...

), “pure form” (

Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (; 24 February 188518 September 1939), commonly known as Witkacy, was a Polish writer, painter, philosopher, theorist, playwright, novelist, and photographer active before World War I and during the interwar period. ...

) or Unism (Władysław Strzemiński). The collection was initiated by the artists and took shape as a result of their solidarity-based international initiative to donate works against any artistic divisions.

1930s

Originally, the museum was housed on the first floor of the former town hall at Liberty Square (Plac Wolności) 1 and its full name read “The J. and K. Bartoszewicz Municipal Museum of History and Art” (named after Kazimierz Bartoszewicz, who donated his family collection of art to the city in the period 1928–1930). The first exhibition opened on 13 April 1930 and this date is considered to mark the beginnings of what is today Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź.

Avant-garde art In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable t ...

from the collection of "a.r" group was made available to the public on 15 February 1931. In 1935 Dr. Marian Minich was appointed the director of the museum and already in the initial years he expanded the collection with works that have complemented the picture of Polish modern art with Polish Formists, the Lviv group of surrealists Artes, and representative works of

Jankel Adler Jankel Adler (born Jankiel Jakub Adler; 26 July 1895 – 25 April 1949) was a Polish-Jewish avant-garde painter and printmaker active primarily in Germany, France and England. He began his career as an engraver in Belgrade before studying ar ...

and Karol Hiller. Immediately after World War II, Muzeum Sztuki acquired paintings of

Alexej Jawlensky Alexej Georgewitsch von Jawlensky (; 13 March 1864 – 15 March 1941), surname also spelt as Yavlensky, was a Russian expressionist painter active in Germany. He was a key member of the New Munich Artist's Association ( Neue Künstlervereinigung ...

. Soon, the museum was transferred to one of the palaces of the Poznański family, in Więckowskiego 36, which since 1948 has been one of its locations. Marian Minich was re-nominated as a director. It was he who adapted rooms in the palace to the needs of the museum and invited Władysław Strzemiński to cooperate, which resulted in the “Neoplastic Room” being added to the exhibition space. The collection of contemporary art was expanded with, inter alia, works by Jonasz Stern,

Jerzy Nowosielski Jerzy Nowosielski (Polish: ; born 7 January 1923 – died 21 February 2011) was a Polish painter, graphic artist, scenographer, illustrator and Eastern Orthodox theologian. He is regarded among the greatest contemporary Polish icon painters ...

, and

Alina Szapocznikow Alina Szapocznikow (; May 16, 1926 – March 2, 1973) was a Polish artist and Holocaust survivor. Recognized as one of the most important Polish sculptors of the post-war era, Szapocznikow utilized diverse and experimental mediums to investigate an ...

Ryszard Stanisławski and the Museum of Art in the 1950s

In 1950 the museum changed its name to ''Muzeum Sztuki'' (Museum of Art) in Łódź. The second director of the museum became

Ryszard Stanisławski Ryszard () is the Polish equivalent of "Richard", and may refer to: * Ryszard Andrzejewski (born 1976), Polish rap musician, songwriter and producer *Ryszard Bakst (1926–1999), Polish and British pianist and piano teacher of Jewish/Polish/Russian ...

, who headed the institution in the years 1966–1991. His goal was to expand the international collection of modern and contemporary art. In his museum practice he accentuated the pivotal role of the “museum as a critical instrument” and preferred focusing the collection on phenomena that were perceived as open, creative and authentic. Stanisławski's efforts led to the acquisition of the first painting from

Roman Opałka Roman Opałka (Polish: ; 27 August 1931 – 6 August 2011) was a French-born Polish painter, whose works are mostly associated with conceptual art. Opałka was born on 27 August 1939 in Abbeville-Saint-Lucien, France, to Polish parents. The ...

series of “counted” paintings (others were to follow), the collection of early works of

Krzysztof Wodiczko Krzysztof Wodiczko (born April 16, 1943) is a Polish people, Polish artist known for his large-scale presentation slide, slide and video projections on architectural facades and monuments. He has realized more than 80 such public projections in A ...

Mirosław Bałka Miroslaw Balka (born 16 December 1958) is a Polish contemporary sculptor and video artist. Life and career Miroslaw Balka is a sculptor also active in the field of experimental video and drawing, born in Warsaw, Poland. In 1985 he graduated fr ...

, and representatives of Warsztat Form Filmowej (Film Form Workshop). Muzeum also received a collection of works by Czech artists acquired at the end of the Prague Spring (e.g.

Jiří Kolář Jiří Kolář (24 September 1914, Protivín – 11 August 2002, Prague) was a Czech poet, writer, painter and translator. His work included both literary and visual art. Life Kolář was born in Protivín on September 29, 1914, in a work ...

). Mateusz Grabowski, owner of an avant-garde gallery in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, donated artworks representing British Pop Art and Op Art (e.g. Derek Boshier,

Bridget Riley Bridget Louise Riley (born 24 April 1931) is an English painter known for her op art paintings. She lives and works in London, Cornwall and the Vaucluse in France. Early life and education Riley was born on 24 April 1931 in West Norwood, No ...

, and

Pauline Boty Pauline Boty (6 March 1938 – 1 July 1966) was a British painter and co-founder of the 1960s' British Pop art movement of which she was the only acknowledged female member. Boty's paintings and collages often demonstrate a joy in self-assured f ...

). American artists (e.g.

Sam Francis Samuel Lewis Francis (June 25, 1923 – November 4, 1994) was an American painter and printmaker. Early life Sam Francis was born in San Mateo, California,

Lawrence Weiner Lawrence Charles Weiner (February 10, 1942December 2, 2021) was an artist born and raised in New York City. One of the central figures in the formation of Conceptual Art in the 1960s, Lawrence Weiner explored the potentials of language as a scu ...

, Barbara Kasten, and

Chris Burden Christopher Lee Burden (April 11, 1946 – May 10, 2015) was an American artist working in performance art, sculpture, and installation art. Burden became known in the 1970s for his performance art works, including ''Shoot (Burden), Shoot'' (1971) ...

) bestowed their works in exchange for artworks of Polish artists. The collection of works from the first Construction in Process (Polish: Konstrukcja w Procesie) festival donated by “Solidarity” (e.g. Peter Downsbrough,

Dan Graham Daniel Graham (March 31, 1942 – February 19, 2022) was an American visual artist, writer, and curator in the writer-artist tradition. In addition to his visual works, he published a large array of critical and speculative writing that spanned ...

, and Richard Nonas) enriched the representation of

minimal art Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or conc ...

. In a symbolic gesture of solidarity with Polish society,

donated ca. 300 artworks from his archives within the framework of “Polentransport 1981”. Insufficient exhibition space was a permanent problem of the Muzeum. In the early 1970s a tender was advertised for the construction of a new building for the museum but the project has never been successfully accomplished due to the economic crisis. In 1973 the museum acquired an industrialist's mansion Edward Herbst Palace in Księży Młyn (Priest's Mill). Prospects of having a building that could meet exhibition requirements of avant-garde art became real with plans to develop the

Manufaktura The Manufaktura is an arts centre, shopping mall, and leisure complex in Łódź, Poland. A major tourist attraction of the city, it includes the largest public square in Łódź, which acts as a venue for cultural and sports events. The Manufak ...

Shopping and Entertainment Centre in the former

Izrael Poznański Izrael Kalman Poznański (25 August 1833–28 April 1900) was a Polish Jews, Polish-Jewish businessman, textile magnate and philanthropist in Łódź, Congress Poland (part of the Russian Empire), and the husband of Eleonora Hertz Poznańska. ...

factory.

The ms² branch

In 2006 Jarosław Suchan was appointed the director of the museum and he has been holding the post ever since. Funds acquired from the European Union (under the Integrated Regional Development Operational Programme), the Polish

Ministry of Culture and National Heritage The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage () is a ministry within Polish government led by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage responsible for national heritage preservation and Polish culture promotion. Ministry oversees state o ...

, Voivodeship Office, and the Marshal Office in Łódź were used to regenerate and modernise the former spinning mill in the factory of

. In the autumn 2008 it became a new location of Muzeum Sztuki known as ms² offering the space of 3000 m², which houses the Collection of the 20th and 21st Century Art; further 600 m² are dedicated to temporary exhibitions. The collection is exhibited in a way that departs from both the chronological arrangement of works of art and the idea of a ‘permanent exhibition’. New exhibition projects, whose aim is to uncover the potential of the collection anew, are underway within the framework of “works on the collection”. According to the programme: ''avant-garde is not treated as a closed chapter that belongs to the past but as a set of ideas, which may still be meaningful to a contemporary viewer''. Muzeum Sztuki introduces the audience to contemporary and avant-garde art in locations at ms² and ms¹. In the years 2011-2013 exhibition space in the building in Więckowskiego was refurbished. Edward Herbst villa that holds Old Masters Collection was also renovated in 2013.

Muzeum’s locations

ms¹, Więckowskiego 36 (Maurycy Poznański palace) – with Neoplastic Room designed by Władysław Strzemiński, which was the core of the exposition of “a.r.” group International Collection of Modern Art. In 2008 the collection moved to the premises of ms², while the Neoplastic Room itself was left in its original place and the space around it is used to display works by contemporary artists, who make references to the Constructivism legacy within the project “Neoplastic Room Open Composition”. In ms¹ at two floors of exhibition space we can find temporary exhibitions that show interesting phenomena in contemporary art. The garden in the backyard is used for open air events, such as film shows and concerts. The building houses also a coffee shop and a library open to all visitors. ms², Ogrodowa 19 (building of the former spinning mill of

factory) – facilities used for experimental interventions with the Collection of 20th and 21st century. The Museum's collection is organized around themes that exhibition curators consider relevant to modern audience. Space at the ground floor is used for temporary exhibitions that tackle mainly the issues connected with the avant-garde legacy. In the building there are rooms for workshops and other educational activities, as well as a multi-media room, which hosts, inter alia, lectures and film shows. There is also a coffee shop “Awangarda” and a bookshop selling books on art. Herbst Villa, Przędzalniana 72 (Edward Herbst palace and garden complex) – a refurbished mansion formerly owned by a family of Łódź industrialists has become the exhibition space for old masters works (mainly those of the 19th century), presentation of palace interiors from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and the overview of the history of the Herbst family of industrial tycoons.

Collections

The collection includes paintings, sculptures and spatial objects, drawings, photographs, video, and installations. It is the largest and the oldest museum collection of modern art in this part of Europe. The collection of Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź was initiated by the members of the ”a.r.” group:

, and Jan Brzękowski, who since 1929 had been involved in collecting modern art. It was made available to the public for the first time in February 1931 at the original seat of the museum in Wolności Square olish: Plac Wolności After 1945 the collection has been being supplemented predominantly with the works by contemporary artists. The collection includes artworks by artists, such as:

Kazimierz Podsadecki Kazimierz (; ; ) is a historical district of Kraków and Kraków Old Town, Poland. From its inception in the 14th century to the early 19th century, Kazimierz was an independent city, a royal city of the Crown of the Polish Kingdom, located south ...

, Enrico Prampolini,

Janusz Maria Brzeski Janusz is a masculine Polish given name. It is also the shortened form of January and Januarius. People * Janusz Akermann (born 1957), Polish painter * Janusz Bardach, Polish gulag survivor and physician * Janusz Bielański, Roman Catholic pri ...

, Teresa Żarnower,

Mieczysław Szczuka Mieczysław Szczuka (19 October 1898 – 13 August 1927) was a Polish people, Polish avant-garde artist and mountaineer. Count Szczuka was born in Warsaw, Congress Poland, Kingdom of Poland, Russian Empire (now Poland) and studied painting in 19 ...

Włodzimierz Borowski Włodzimierz may refer to the following : People * Włodzimierz (given name), a Polish variant of the (East) Slavic name Vladimir Places and jurisdictions * Włodzimierz, Greater Poland Voivodeship (west-central Poland) * Włodzimierz, Łask C ...

, Derek Boshier, Christian Boltanski,

, Bridget Riley,

Ewa Partum Ewa Partum (born 1945, Grodzisk Mazowiecki near Warsaw, Poland) is a poetry artist, performance artist, filmmaker, mail artist, and conceptual artist. Education Beginning in 1963, Partum studied at the State Higher School of Fine Arts in Łód ...

, Edward Krasiński, Ali Kazma, Barbara Hammer, Agnieszka Kalinowska,

Zofia Kulik Zofia Kulik (born 1947 in Wrocław, Poland) is a Polish artist living and working in Łomianki (Warsaw), whose art combines political criticism with a feminist perspective. Career Kulik studied at the Sculpture Department of the Warsaw Acade ...

, Jadwiga Maziarska, Erna Rosenstein, Jadwiga Sawicka, Ahlam Shibli, Mladen Stilinović, Mona Vătămanu & Florin Tudor, Haegue Yang, Konrad Smoleński,

Cezary Bodzianowski Cezary is the Polish version of the given name Caesar. Notable people with the name include: *Cezary Balicki (born 1958), Polish bridge player *Cezary Czpak (born 1982), Polish footballer, playing as a midfielder *Cezary Geroń (1960–1998), Polis ...

Zbigniew Libera Zbigniew Stanisław Libera (born 7 July 1959) is a Polish artist, born in Pabianice, Poland. Libera's artworks are considered to fall under the styles of pop art and critical art, and are frequently used to comment on political and social issu ...

, Artur Żmijewski,

Julita Wójcik Julita may refer to: * Julita, Leyte, municipality in the province of Leyte, Philippines * Julița, a village in Vărădia de Mureș Commune, Arad County, Romania * Julița, a tributary of the Mureș in Arad County, Romania * Julita parish in th ...

, Antje Majewski, and Allan Sekula.

Atlas of Modernity. Collection of 20th and 21st Century Art

Opened on 24 February 2014 in ms², a division of Muzeum of Art in Łódź, is an overview of the collection featuring works by artists active in the 20th and 21st centuries. The exhibition occupies three floors in the premises owned by Muzeum Sztuki located in the shopping and entertainment centre

in Łódź. It covers in total 2700 m², where the visitors may see more than 200 exhibits whose number changes depending on the exhibition projects hosted in this space. “Atlas of Modernity” is another stage in the works on Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź collection that have been continued since 2008 and “whose goal is to research, re-interpret and update the meaning of artworks included in the collection.” The exhibition refers to the idea of art historian

Aby Warburg Aby Moritz Warburg (June 13, 1866 – October 26, 1929) was a German art historian and cultural theorist who founded the ''Kulturwissenschaftliche Bibliothek Warburg'' (Warburg Library for Cultural Studies), a private library, which was later m ...

and his project “Mnemosyne Atlas”, it departs from both the chronological arrangement of works of art and the idea of a ‘permanent exhibition’. The exposition “has given up typical linearity that organises museum’s collection against a timeline of art history and groups artworks into schools, trends, styles or tendencies.” Works focus around 14 notions connected with the idea of modernity: “museum”, “autonomy”, “capital”, “machine”, “city”, “progress”, “experiment”, “propaganda”, “norm”, “tradition”, “catastrophe”, “me”, “emancipation”, and “revolution”; “creating a ‘collage’ of artworks from different periods representing different aesthetics and artistic attitudes around these notions; the exhibition poses questions about how the phenomena changed, how the way they were perceived altered and, most importantly, to what extent they shape our today's reality.” The exhibition has been prepared by a curatorial team headed by Jarosław Suchan, the Muzeum’s director, and composed of: Aleksandra Jach, Paulina Kurc-Maj, Maria Morzuch, Anna Saciuk-Gąsowska, Joanna Sokołowska, Katarzyna Słoboda, and Magdalena Ziółkowska.

Polish Painting

The Collection is a representative selection of artworks by Polish artists, in particular of the 19th and the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, including some masterpieces of Polish painting such as: “''Portrait of the Artist’s Mother''” (1853) by

Henryk Rodakowski Henryk Hipolit Rodakowski (; 1823–1894) was a Polish painter. Biography He came from a well-known family of lawyers. Continuing the family tradition between 1841 and 1845, he studied law in Vienna. Later he studied painting under Joseph Danha ...

, “''Napoleon on Horseback''” by Piotr Michałowski, “''Sleeping Mietek''” by

Stanisław Wyspiański Stanisław Mateusz Ignacy Wyspiański (; 15 January 1869 – 28 November 1907) was a Polish playwright, painter, poet, and interior and furniture designer. A patriotic writer, he created symbolic national dramas accordant with the artisti ...

, and “''Sobieski in Częstochowa''” by

Jan Matejko Jan Alojzy Matejko (; also known as Jan Mateyko; 24 June 1838 – 1 November 1893) was a Polish painter, a leading 19th-century exponent of history painting, known for depicting nodal events from Polish history. His works include large scale ...

. File:Kozak na koniu.jpg, ''Cossack on Horseback'', Aleksander Orłowski Mehoffer Artist's wife with Pegasus.jpg, ''Portrait of artist's wife with Pegasus'',

Józef Mehoffer Józef Mehoffer (19 March 1869 – 8 July 1946) was a Polish painter and decorative artist, one of the leading artists of the Young Poland movement and one of the most revered Polish artists of his time. Life Mehoffer was born in Ropczyce ...

File:Henryk Rodakowski, Portret matki, 1853.jpg, ''Portrait of Mother'',

File:Wojciech-Gerson-Kiejstut i Witold.jpg, ''Kęstutis and Vytautas imprisoned by Jogaila'',

Wojciech Gerson Wojciech Gerson (; 1 July 1831 – 25 February 1901) was a Polish painter, educator, architect and art critic who was one of the foremost representatives of the Polish school of Realism during the foreign Partitions of Poland. He served as long ...

File:Jacek Maleczewski-Thanatos II-1899.jpg, ''Thanatos II'',

Jacek Malczewski Jacek Malczewski (; 15 July 1854 – 8 October 1929) was a Polish symbolist painter who was one of the central figures of the patriotic Young Poland movement. His works combined the predominant style of his time with historical motifs of Pol ...

File:Witkacy Dwie glowy.jpg, ''Two Heads'',

File:Hiller Karol, Kompozycja O, 1928.jpg, ''Composition "o"'', Karol Hiller File:Władysław Strzemiński, "Pajzaż łódzki od strony Retkini".jpg, ''

Landscape of Łódź Seen From Retkinia A landscape is the visible features of an area of Terrestrial ecoregion, land, its landforms, and how they integrate with Nature, natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Diction ...

'',

Collection highlights

File:Michele Steno.jpg, ''Portrait of Doge Michele Steno'', Unknown File:Snyders Still-life with a roe deer.jpg, ''Still-life with a Roe Deer'',

Frans Snyders Frans Snyders or Frans Snijders (11November 157919August 1657) was a Flemish painter of animals, hunting scenes, market scenes, and still lifes. A versatile artist, his works depict all sorts of foods, utensils, and tableware and wide assortment ...

File:Maes Portrait of a man.jpg, ''Portrait of a Man in a Wig'',

Nicolaes Maes Nicolaes Maes (January 1634December 1693 (buried 24 December 1693)) was a Dutch Republic, Dutch painter known for his Genre painting, genre scenes, Portrait painting, portraits, religious compositions and the occasional still life. A pupil of Re ...

File:Signac View of the Golden Horn.jpg, ''View of the Golden Horn'',

Paul Signac Paul Victor Jules Signac ( , ; 11 November 1863 – 15 August 1935) was a French Neo-Impressionist painter who, with Georges Seurat, helped develop the artistic technique Pointillism. Biography Paul-Victor-Jules Signac was born in Paris on ...

Education and Promotion of Art

One of the objectives behind the idea of collection efforts initiated by “a.r.” group and further continued by the Muzeum was to disseminate knowledge about art and to present the achievements of avant-garde art to the largest audiences possible. The Muzeum accomplishes this goal through, inter alia, cooperation with other museums in the world, publishing activities, education effort (workshops, lectures, guided tours), and its media presence (in cooperation with

TVP kultura TVP Kultura is the first TV theme channel to be run by the Polish public broadcaster TVP. It was launched on 24 April 2005 and is dedicated to arts and culture. Every day of the week, the channel concentrates on other disciplines; e.g., cinema ...

TV channel, Muzeum Sztuki creates “Kulturanek” ultural Morning- a series of programmes on art addressed to young audience).

ms opus

Project “ms opus” is the effect of cooperation between Muzeum Sztuki and Opus Film film production company – it documents exhibitions and presents artists and curators. Video recordings from exhibitions available on the Internet have enabled wide audiences to learn more about Muzeum's exhibition projects.

ms club

ms club is a membership programme intended to attract a community of visitors and sponsors, which is also a kind of subscription that offers free admission to exhibitions and events. Two types of membership cards are currently available: MS CLUB and MS CLUB STUDENT.

ms Award

The award is given by Muzeum Sztuki in recognition of the patronage extended to the Muzeum, its promotion or any other form of active support to its interests in Poland and abroad. It is awarded to institutions, companies, representatives of the media, and private persons as a token of gratitude for their engagement and promotion of active attitudes in culture in the preceding year.Nagrody Previous winners of the ms Award:ms Award * 2009: Marzena Bomanowska (for 2008) for helping to promote the events in Muzeum Sztuki, in particular the opening of ms2 * 2010: Jarosław Przyborowski (for 2009) thanks to whom it was possible to purchase Daniel Buren's work ''Cabane éclatée'' for the museum collection * 2011: Piotr Dzięcioł (for 2010), for helping to produce films from every exhibition as a part of the “ms opus” project * 2012: PEKAO S.A. * 2013: Łódź Association for the Encouragement of Fine Art * 2014:

TVP Kultura TVP Kultura is the first TV theme channel to be run by the Polish public broadcaster TVP. It was launched on 24 April 2005 and is dedicated to arts and culture. Every day of the week, the channel concentrates on other disciplines; e.g., cinema ...

Katarzyna Kobro Prize

The idea of the Katarzyna Kobro Prize annually awarded by artists to an artist they wish to honour originates from Józef Robakowski with initial involvement of the late Nika Strzemińska, daughter of

and

. The Prize is intended to pay tribute to artists representing progressive and exploratory stance, open to creative intellectual exchange who are involved in initiating cultural events. Until 2011 the Prize was awarded by Wschodnia Gallery olish: Galeria Wschodnia however, in 2011 Dariusz Bieńkowski (the founder of the prize) and Józef Robakowski moved it to Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź. The Katarzyna Kobro Prize is awarded every December by a college of representatives of various genres of art.

References

External links

Museum of Art in Łódź
within

Google Arts & Culture Google Arts & Culture (formerly Google Art Project) is an online platform of high-resolution images and videos of artworks and cultural artifacts from partner cultural organizations throughout the world, operated by Google. It utilizes high-re ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Muzeum Sztuki in Lodz Modern art museums

Art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

1930 establishments in Poland Museums established in 1930