“Wyspiański. Unknown” consists primarily of works of art and objects associated with Stanisław Wyspiański which the public will have the opportunity to see for the very first time.

Foremost among these are the pastel Self-portrait of the artist (1897) and the Portrait of Doctor Jan Raczyński (1904), which was acquired for the collections of the National Museum in Krakow in November 2018. For the first time also, visitors will be able to see more than 600 items from the artist’s library, purchased by the Museum in 1920 from Wyspiański’s widow, Teodora Teofilia née Pytko. Nearly all of the books are signed by the artist and dated. Many contain pencil sketches done by Wyspiański, while others include dedications from contemporary poets and writers who presented the artist with the books as gifts.

The exhibition will also present a set of first editions of Wyspiański’s dramas, from Legenda (Legend) and Warszawianka (Varsovian Anthem), published in 1898, to Skałka (The Rock), Powrót Odysa (The Return of Odysseus), and Sędziowie (The Judges), published in the year of the artist’s death. Not to be missed also are heretofore little-known works of the artist, including drawings from the days of his youth and pastels from the collections of the National Museum in Poznań, the Lublin Museum, the National Museum in Warsaw, and the holdings of private collectors, among others.