Chełmoński

Name: Chełmoński
Start: 2025-08-08
End: 2025-11-30
Location: Kraków National Museum (MNK), Main Building

Aug 8 - Nov 30 2025 Al. 3 Maja 1

After its record-breaking success in Warsaw and Poznań, this chronological retrospective exhibition of one of the most important Polish artists of the second-half of the 19th century finally comes to Kraków. Józef Chełmoński (1849-1914) was a realist painter known for his monumental paintings of Polish landscapes, rural traditions and the peasantry. His best, most famous works have a distinctly Polish national character, influenced by Romanticism, and display an impressive energy and emotional depth, whether their subject be birds taking flight at dawn, the stillness of a summer afternoon, or horses sprinting in full harness.

'Babie Lato' (Indian Summer), 1875 painting by Józef Chełmoński.

The result of a collaboration between the National Museums in Warsaw, Poznań and Kraków, the exhibit in Kraków will present approximately 300 oil paintings, watercolours and drawings from a dozen or so Polish and foreign museums, as well as from many private collections. This is the most broad exhibition of the Chełmoński's work since the 1980s, and an opportunity for a new, critical look at his entire creative output. Visitors will get to know the artist's full biography, the dominant themes of his work, and how his style evolved over time.

'Partridges in the Snow,' 1891 painting by Józef Chełmoński.

The three exhibitions (Warsaw–Poznań–Kraków) will be accompanied by a joint, multi-volume monograph, edited by Ewa Micke-Broniarek from the National Museum in Warsaw. The publication (in two language versions – Polish and English) includes a biography, a critical overview of Józef Chełmoński's creative output and a catalogue raisonné. The National Museum in Krakow also plans to issue a separate publication for the Krakow edition of the exhibition.

This exhibit has the potential to be massively popular, so you should get your tickets in advance if you don't want to miss it!

Associated Venues

Museums

Kraków National Museum (MNK), Main Building

Al. 3 Maja 1

The National Museum has 11 branches in Kraków, with this monolithic structure - apparently built over the course of half a century from 1935 to 1989 - being …

Krakow

Chełmoński

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Associated Venues

Kraków National Museum (MNK), Main Building