Classical Influence in European Furniture
December 2011 – November 2012
The exhibition focuses on the Classical influence on the forms and decorative motifs in European furniture, for example the klismos chair and mythological themes. The featured furniture pieces date to the period of the 16th-19th c. and the exhibition will also feature paintings, sculptures, and decorative objects inspired by Antiquity.
Jan Berdyszak. Sketches and Drawings
10 January - 5 February 2012
The gift of the portfolio of sketches and drawings of Jan Berdyszak has provided the impulse to stage the present exhibition. It also features other works of the artist (like glass sculptures) from the Museum’s collection.
Over a year ago, the Kościelak Gallery in Wrocław presented a series of sketches and drawings by Jan Berdyszak from the period of 1962-1991 to the National Museum in Wrocław. “I decided to make this gesture being fully aware of the works’ aesthetic autonomy and the risk of the portfolio being dispersed. As a national cultural institution, the National Museum in Wrocław seemed the best and most prestigious venue to protect the collection’s integrity, in both the physical and cultural sense” – explains the Gallery’s director Elżbieta Kościelak. The sketches and drawings presented to the National Museum represent the early period in Berdyszak’s career (Sketches 1962-1970) and his mature work (Integrating Drawings on Cardboard, 1970-1972; Designs for Imaginings, 1978; and Beams, 1990-1993). They are informed by the concerns which would later be elaborated in the pieces already in the possession of the National Museum in Wrocław. Carefully executed and finished, Berdyszak’s sketches and drawings are works of art in their own right.
Quality of "White Gold". The Royal Porcelain Factory in Meissen.
18 January - 30 April 2012
Two pieces from the Swan Service, the most celebrated tour de force of European porcelain dinnerware, take pride of place at the exhibition of Meissen porcelain from the collection of the National Museum in Wrocław showcasing the manufactory’s history.
Produced in China already in the 7th century, porcelain was admired and prized in Europe already in the Early Middle Ages. Many a ceramist attempted to discover the secret of its formula. Physicist and mathematician Ehrenfried Walter von Tschimhaus and talented young alchemist Johann Friedrich Böttger, both in the service of King Augustus II the Strong of Saxony and Poland, finally succeeded. In 1707, they produced fine red stoneware and two years later solved the problem of colour by replacing red bolus with white kaolin. On 23 January 1710, King Augustus proudly proclaimed – in four languages (German, French, Dutch, and Italian) – his plans to set up a porcelain works in Dresden. Several months later, it moved to Meissen castle whose inaccessible location on a high, rocky hill ensured better protection of the profitable secret. At the time, porcelain was as precious as gold: in fact, it was called ‘white gold’. The precise proportion of components and the process of production remained a closely guarded secret, for a long time known only to Böttger. The alchemist and other people employed at the Meissen factory were in fact royal prisoners, not allowed to leave the castle. The early, pioneering period of the Meissen factory is represented by four red stoneware items: a statuette of King Augustus II, a jug, and two bowls.
The subsequent periods in the history of Meissen porcelain were marked by the influence of distinguished artists: Gregorius Höroldt and Johann Joachim Kaendler. Höroldt was inspired by Chinese art. Kaendler was impressively bold and creative in his treatment of porcelain as a material for monumental sculpture (figures of birds and beasts for the Japanese Palace in Dresden). His most celebrated design was the famed Swan Service. The largest service ever commissioned (by Count Heinrich von Brühl, the King’s powerful minister) comprised 2200 pieces to serve 100 guests. Brühl’s last will protected the service’s integrity but it became dispersed and partially perished during World War II. A platter and a plate from the Swan Service were acquired for the National Museum in Wrocław in 1977 and 1988, respectively, and the present exhibition provides a rare opportunity to see them.
By the mid-18th century, the pompous Baroque style was replaced by more delicate and frivolous Rococo motifs: pastoral scenes, courtly love themes, landscapes, and flowers. In the 1770s, the emerging Neo-Classical style (inspired by French Sèvres porcelain) informed wares modelled after Greek vases and figurines recalling Classical statuary sculpture.
Sometime around 1900, Art Nouveau motifs became fashionable (inspired by Royal Copenhagen). To celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Meissen porcelain works, a number of early patterns were revived, including figurines, medals and commemorative coins made of Böttger ware, which proved very successful commercially. The exhibition features coins designed by the distinguished artist Emil Börner.
Planned Exhibitions:
Zbigniew Bać
Habitats. Our Places on Earth
13 February - 11 March
Polish New Look
27 February - 1 April 2012
more
German Painting from Classicism to Symbolism
2 April – 20 May 2012
Wilhelm Trübner, Reading Girl, 1871 Ferdinand von Rayski, Tracker, 1861
Zdzisław Sosnowski: Goalkeeper vs. Robokeeper
4 June - 8 July 2012
more
New Gallery
of Contemporary Art
opening 10 September 2011
The year 2011 will be marked by an exceptional event: the opening of the new Gallery of Contemporary Art in the stunning space of the Museum’s remodelled attic. The National Museum in Wrocław has one of the largest (over 20 thousand objects) and most representative collections of the art of the 20th and early 21st century. The new gallery, arranged in the stunning loft-like space of some 3000 square metres, will accommodate a more comprehensive selection and will doubtless feature on Poland’s cultural map as one of principal venue for presenting modern art, with the unique collection of the works by world-famous Magdalena Abakanowicz’s as its show stopping climax.
