Nearly a hundred works by the Nabis, who influenced the development of modern art, are on display in a temporary exhibition at the Royal Łazienki Museum. They include paintings by masters such as Maurice Denis, Paul Ranson and Paul Sérusier. The works originate from Polish and foreign collections, including the famous French Musée d’Orsay.
Officer Cadet SchoolAgrykola 1, 00-460 Warszawa
Tickets: PLN 30 – standard ticket, PLN 15 – reduced ticket, free admission on Fridays (individual visit only)
Nearly a hundred works by the Nabis, who influenced the development of modern art, are on display in a temporary exhibition at the Royal Łazienki Museum. They include paintings by masters such as Maurice Denis, Paul Ranson and Paul Sérusier. The works originate from Polish and foreign collections, including the famous French Musée d’Orsay.
The Nabis were an art group which operated in France between 1888 and 1899. They discarded the principles of academic painting and their works featured deep colour, clear contours and decorativeness. Although they were active for a short period of time, they inspiredmany later artists, including the Cubists.
They formed a modern yet mysterious movement, as best evidenced by their name, which they themselves invented. ‘Nabi’ simply means ‘prophet’ in Arabic and Hebrew, hence the reference in the title of the exhibition.
The exhibition at the Royal Łazienki Museum reveals the fundamental role that the Nabis, including Paul Sérusier, Pierre Bonnard, Paul Ranson, Maurice Denis, Ker-Xavier Roussel, Georges Lacombe, Édouard Vuillard and Félix Vallotton, played in shaping modern art. Although they significantly influenced the work of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, they are not known by wider audiences sufficiently well. No exhibition devoted to this group has yet been held in our country, although it also influenced Polish artists studying in Paris towards the end of the 19th century.
Works from worldwide collections
The exhibition ‘The Nabis. Prophets of a New Art’ depicts, among other things, the origins of the art movement and the influence of Paul Gauguin and the so-called Pont-Aven School. It also presents works of a religious and esoteric nature, views of interiors and genre scenes, as well as the activities of the ‘La Revue Blanche’ magazine, run by the Natanson brothers Tadeusz and Alexander. Visitors can admire more than 90 works in total comprising paintings, drawings and prints.
The exhibition features works from the collections of eleven foreign public institutions from France, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Hungary. Most of them have never been shown in Poland before. Among them are, above all, exquisite paintings from the collection of the French Musée d’Orsay, including one of the iconic works for the Nabis – ‘Spots of Sunlight on the Terrace’ by the movement’s co-founder, Maurice Denis. During the exhibition, visitors can also see the works from eleven private collections (French, Swiss and Polish), and it is an absolutely unique opportunity to see them live. The exhibition is also accompanied by exhibits from nine national public collections, including works by Władysław Ślewiński, one of the few Polish artists directly associated with the École de Pont-Aven and clearly under the influence of Paul Gauguin and the Nabis. Other Polish artists who drew inspiration from the Nabis in their search for modernity, and whose works are shown at the exhibition, include: Mela Muter, Stanisław Wyspiański, Władysław Ślewiński, Marian Wawrzeniecki, Edward Okuń, Jan (Jean) Mirosław Peske (Peské, Peszke), Witold Wojtkiewicz, Wacław Żaboklicki, Karol Frycz, Bolesław Biegas, Henryk Hayden, Jan Rubczak and Eugeniusz Zak.
The exhibition is a unique opportunity to discover the changes taking place in art at the end of the 19th century, and to highlight the cultural links between France and Poland. The curators of the exhibition are Dr Ewa Bobrowska and Jean-René Saillard.
Opening times, admission
The exhibition is open on Tuesday and Wednesday from 10.00 to 17.00, on Thursday and Friday from 10.00 to 18.00, on Saturday from 12.00-20.00, and on Sunday from 10.00 to 16.00. Last entry is 30 minutes before the exhibition closes. Admission: PLN 30 – normal ticket, PLN 15 – reduced ticket, members of the Friends of the Royal Łazienki Museum – free of charge, on Friday admission is free of charge. Tickets are available at the ticket office and ticket machine in the Officer Cadets School and online – BUY A TICKET.
Exhibition patronage: French Embassy in Poland, French Institute in Poland Exhibition partner: Polish National Foundation Patrons of the Museum: PZU, PZU Foundation StrategicPartner of the Museum: ORLEN Museum Partner: PKO Bank Polski Museum Organiser: Ministry of Culture and National Heritage
