The seven canvases are the central part of a new exhibition at Kazimierz Dolny’s Nadwiślańskie Museum that opened on Sunday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Entitled St Lucas Brotherhood. Kazimierz Dolny-USA-Kazimierz Dolny, the show was officially launched Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Culture Minister Piotr Gliński.
Gliński noted that the seven artworks, painted by 11 painters who made up an art group called the St. Lucas Brotherhood, were finally brought back to Poland last year.
He told the audience: “This is an unforgettable exhibition because the paintings by the St. Lucas artists are returning to Kazimierz Dolny after 85 years. I was determined to ensure that they were shown here as soon as possible.”
Commissioned by the Polish government for the 1939 World Expo exhibition in New York, the seven canvases depict “Poland’s contribution to the Western civilisation,” while stylistically “drawing from classical Dutch and Italian painting,” Gliński said.
Historic Polish constitution, 1683 Battle of Vienna...
He added that the themes included the passage of Poland’s historic Constitution of May 3, 1791, "the first modern constitution in Europe and the second worldwide, after the American constitution;" Poland’s victory over Turkish forces in the 1683 Battle of Vienna, when “Poland defended the European civilisation against an external threat;” and “the privileges afforded to the Polish nobility, which ensured that the multi-ethnic and multi-faith Polish state of the time was free, tolerant and these values were safeguarded.”
Gliński told the audience: “All of these themes were depicted to promote and enhance Poland’s image at the 1939 World Expo in New York.”
He said the decision to create the paintings showed “the wisdom of the Polish state of the time, which was facing many obstacles and pressure from two imperial, totalitarian powers,” Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.
The Polish culture minister added: “Sadly, four months after the launch of the World Expo, World War II broke out… The paintings stayed in New York and could not be retrieved for many years. Finally, we managed to secure their return last year.”
Gliński announced that after being showcased in Kazimierz Dolny, the seven paintings would "enrich the collection of the new Museum of the History of Poland," which is due to open in the Polish capital Warsaw in September.
The set of seven canvases was painted over a period of six months in 1938 by a group of artists led by Tadeusz Pruszkowski and including Antoni Michalak, Bolesław Cybis, Bernard Frydrysiak, Jan Gotard, Aleksander Jędrzejewski, Eliasz Kanarek, Jeremi Kubicki, Stefan Płużański, Janusz Podoski and Jan Zamoyski, the PAP news agency reported.
The St. Lucas Brotherhood. Kazimierz Dolny-USA-Kazimierz Dolny exhibition runs at Kazimierz Dolny’s Nadwiślańskie Museum until August 6.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, gov.pl