29 October 2019 – 2 February 2020
Curator of the exhibition: Barbara Andruszkiewicz
This is the first monographic presentation in the history of art and museology showcasing Wrocław sculpture from the first half of the 19th century – the least researched phenomenon in Wrocław artistic heritage. The exhibition showcases 100 artefacts created by around thirty excellent sculptors.
Visitors are able to study the whole spectrum of subjects explored in the contemporary art of sculpture – starting from nudes, portraits, images of animals, through allegorical, mythological and everyday scenes, and finally, historical themes.
Among the artists making their appearance in the rooms housing temporary exhibitions at the National Museum in Wrocław, there are those already well-known for their individual and unique style (e.g. Christian Behrens, Theodor von Gosen, Jaroslav Vonka, Margerethe Moll), as well as those still waiting to be discovered and finally appreciated (such as Paul Schulz, Johannes Kiunka and Dorothea von Philipsborn).
“The fairly limited interest so far in this subject on the part of museologists, was above all the result of the enormous losses borne by Wrocław collections of sculpture following the destruction of the capital of Silesia in 1945 as well as during those few subsequent years when such works were consistently removed from the city’s public space”, says Piotr Oszczanowski. “This reticence to conduct research and presentations was also caused by the modest number of the surviving works by Wrocław sculptors from the times of Secession, Modernism and Art Déco which remained in the possession of Polish museums”.
A catalogue of the exhibition has been prepared by its curator, Barbara Andruszkiewicz.
