National Museum - The Main Building

Aleja 3 Maja 1,30-062 Kraków Phone: Centrala+48 124335500Sekretariat+48 124335600 http://www.muzeum.krakow.pl/

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Permanent exhibitions in the Main Building: Polish 20th-Century Art Gallery (temporary closed)The aim of the permanent exhibition in the Main Building is to present the whole of the Polish artistic output of the twentieth century, first of all painting, drawing, prints, and sculpture. The exposition is organised thematically and is the continuation of the Gallery of the Polish Art of the 19gh century in the Cloth Hall. The exposition includes works created from 1890 to modern times. Among the abundance of works worth mentioning that are displayed there, there are the paintings by Stanisław Wyspiański, Leon Chwistek, Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (known as Witkacy,) and Tadeusz Kantor, whereas prominent among the sculptures are the works by Wacław Szymanowski and Jerzy Bereś. Arms and National Colours in PolandThe exposition presents Polish arms as well as arms used in Poland from the Middle Ages (in the 13th and 14th centuries) to the first half of the 20th century. The exposition includes short and long side-arms and fire-arms, suits of armour, combat gear and equipment, horse gear, and decorative elements. This rich collection of military objects is complemented by a collection of uniforms of Polish military units used from the 18th century to the World War II. Gallery of Decorative ArtThe Gallery of Decorative Art is the first in the over hundred-year-long history of the National Museum in Krakow so comprehensive a presentation of the collection of artistic creation of craftsmen. In ten rooms, covering the total of 1,800 square metres, there are more than 2,500 exhibits presented chronologically from the early Middle Ages to the times of the Sezession. Besides the most characteristic practical and decorative objects, which illustrate the changes in the style, historical items of extraordinary artistic value are exhibited. These are objects unique in Europe, and include first of all the silver Włocławek goblet from the 10th century and a glazed reliquary, from Kruszwica from the 12th century. Among the most precious exhibits are Krakow stained glass windows from the 13th, 14th, and the 15th centuries, Polish medieval and modern embroideries decorating liturgical clothes, as well as stylish garments and clothes characteristic for various epochs. The exhibited silken belts, which were used in Poland to girdle the kontusz: robe worn by the Polish nobility, include a world-class rarity, namely, a Persian belt with figures of hawkers, which dates back to the latter part of the 17th century. Decorative art has always been important in Polish culture. Beautiful objects had various functions, they served in religious ceremonies but also emphasised lay splendours. They witnessed to the wealth and social status of their owners, they were the objects of family pride. Works of decorative art were essential for rich social life of nobility and bourgeoisie. These articles, commissioned to Polish and foreign craftsmen, testify to the historical aesthetic needs and tastes of Poles. Works that belong to material culture heritage from the period of the first Republic (1573 – 1795) are particularly precious – as they were decimated over the centuries by robberies, requisitions, and wars – and are presented in the exhibited together with more contemporary objects dating back to the first quarter of the twentieth century. These articles allow a fresh look at the works of decorative art, named 'the applied art' at the beginning of the 20th century.