All about Polish art

“Stefan Batory at Pskov,” by renowned painter Jan Matejko, is on display at the National Museum of Korea’s exhibition “Polish Art: An Enduring Spirit” through Aug. 30. / Courtesy of National Museum of Korea

National museum displays Polish artworks from Chopin to Copernicus

By Baek Byung-yeul

Poland is the birthplace of renowned figures such as astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, virtuoso pianist Frederic Chopin and Pope Saint John Paul II.

For many people here, it seems to be a distant and relatively unknown country, but Poland shares similarities with Korea as the two have developed their indigenous culture over thousands of years while being invaded by neighboring powers.

To display Poland’s culture and art, the state-run National Museum of Korea (NMK) began on Friday a three-month exhibition displaying splendid Polish artworks.

“To Koreans, Poland is well-known for Copernicus and Chopin, but the country has maintained its unique identity while embracing the diverse cultures of neighboring nations despite recurring warfare and foreign aggression,” Kim Young-na, director-general of the NMK said at an opening ceremony of the Polish art exhibition at the museum in Seoul, Thursday. “As there have been few chances in Korea to enjoy its history and culture, we are presenting more than 250 artworks comprised of paintings, sculptures and the craftwork of Poland.”

Polish painter Apoloniusz Kedzierski’s “Head of a Young Girl from Lowicz,” which shows a girl wearing costumes from the Lowicz region in central Poland / Courtesy of National Museum of Korea

Entitled “Polish Art: An enduring Spirit,” the exhibition showcases Polish art from the 15th to the 20th centuries including Chopin’s original score and materials related to Copernicus.

On loan from 19 museums across Poland, including the National Museum in Warsaw, the exhibition consists of five parts ― “Medieval Art,” “Art in the Sarmatian Age,” “Art as The Kingdom of the Spirit,” “Art of the Young Poland Period” and “Polish Art in the 20th Century.”

Upon entering the exhibition hall, visitors will likely be in a solemn mood as the first part showcases paintings and sculptures that were used for decorating churches in the middle ages.

“The Medieval art of Poland has a religious theme as those artworks were produced in order to be used in churches,” Kim Seung-ik, a curator for the exhibition explained.

Visitors can see a part of Copernicus’ original handwriting of “On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres.” The book, which was published in 1543 just before his death, sets out a heliocentric system, an astronomical model, in which the earth and the other planets that revolve around the sun are at the center of the solar system.

The most striking item in the exhibition would probably be Jan Matejko’s 1872 work “Stefan Batory at Pskov.”

Matejko, considered as one of the most influential Polish artists for his works featuring notable historical figures from his homeland, has a painting measuring 322 centimeters in width and 545 centimeters in height of Stefan Batory (1533-1586). He was a Hungarian prince from Transylvania and became king of Poland in 1576 by marrying the Polish queen Anna Jagiellonka. This painting describes the war the king waged with Moscow from 1579 to 1581.

Chopin’s hand-written musical manuscript of "Mazurka in E Major, op. 6 no. 3" is also on display at the end of the third section.

The fourth section of the exhibition highlights the artwork produced during the “Young Poland” period. During this era, which happened from 1890 to 1918, artists defined their efforts as “young” and “new,” and distanced themselves from conventional ways of producing art. The last section features modern artworks produced after 1918, the year Poland regained its independence from Russia.

The exhibition runs through Aug. 30. The museum is located near exit 4 of Ichon Station, subway line 4 and the Jungang Line. Tickets cost 13,000 won for adults who are over 24 years old, 11,000 won for students ranging from middle school to college students, 8,000 won for elementary school students, 6,000 won for people over 65 years old or older and 5,000 won for children.

For more information, visit www.polandart.co.kr.