2024-04-23
At the beginning of the previous month, the Stanisław Wyspiański Museum was opened – a new branch of the National Museum in Cracow. In the building of the former granary at 6 Sikorskiego Square, you can see several hundred works of this outstanding painter, writer, and versatile artist.
After graduating from high school, he studied under Jan Matejko himself at the School of Fine Arts in Cracow. In his short 38 years of life (1869-1907), Wyspiański has accumulated an impressive oeuvre, dealing with many fields of art. He wrote 19 plays, 5 operas, created a huge number of drawings and paintings, i.e. he designed 36 stained-glass units for St. Mary's Church in Cracow. He is one of the most recognizable characters of Young Poland, the drama Wesele is still included in the school reading canon in Poland.
The fourth Polish bard, as he is sometimes called, Stanisław Wyspiański has a separate museum. The collection of works is presented in the intimate interiors of a historic Cracow granary from the 18th century, where you can see a wide spectrum of the artist's work. In addition to the displayed oil paintings, drawings, furniture and stained-glass designs, the history is complemented by personal mementos, a private book collection and archives: manuscripts and photographs. Conservation problems can be considered an interesting issue, due to the high sensitivity of, among others, to light the works on paper, the exhibition is available for visitors for limited time. Moreover, it was agreed that the exhibition will have two cyclical editions, changing every year.
Investing in famous names carries a much smaller risk factor. Undoubtedly, this is also the case of Wyspiański, one of the most valued artists of Young Poland – it is easily noticeable at high prices. The unquestionable auction record is his 1904 painting "Motherhood", which in 2017 was sold for PLN 4.366 million (more than five times the asking price was reached). In 2021, the first edition of Wesele reached the price of 18.7 thousand zlotys. Apart from pastels and books, the artist's drawings are also very popular. They can reach prices of several dozen thousand zlotys.