Entitled "Polish Poster. The Collection", the inaugural exhibition offers a cross-section of the 130-year history of poster design in Poland, starting with a 1899 work by painter and playwright Stanisław Wyspiański, a leading figure of the Young Poland movement.
The display features 240 works and is divided into several sections, covering the final decades before Poland regained independence in 1918, the interwar years 1918–1939, World War Two and post-war political propaganda, the artistic phenomenon of the Polish School of Poster, and modern graphic design following the collapse of communism in 1989.
The Poster Museum in Warsaw was founded in 1968 as the world's first museum devoted exclusively to poster design.
Its establishment coincided with the emergence of the Polish School of Poster, with a large group of artists – notably Henryk Tomaszewski, Waldemar Świerzy, Jan Lenica, Roman Cieślewicz and Jan Młodożeniec – gaining worldwide recognition.
Works by Polish designers are held in the collections of some of the world's leading art institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York.
The Poster Museum in Warsaw holds around 63,000 works by Polish and foreign artists.
(mk/ał)