More than 500 works of art, ranging from painting, sculpture, and graphics to goldsmithing, furniture, porcelain, clothing, and fashion accessories, can be viewed at the National Museum in Wrocław. The exhibition is complemented by works by contemporary artists for whom the Rococo is a source of inspiration.
Works by Silesian Rococo painters and sculptors grace the exhibition: F. A. Scheffler, Canutus, J. G. Ernst, F. A. Sebastini, A. Dorazil, J. A. Lachel, and J. G. Lehnert. Many of these works adorn the interiors of Silesian churches daily; presenting them side by side in the museum space is an opportunity to compare, analyse and discover this magnificent but still little-known art.
There are also works by prominent European Rococo artists, including Pesne, Platzer and Coccorante, from old Silesian collections. The exhibits also include priceless items from the former furnishings of Wrocław’s Royal Palace: furniture, paintings and examples of the famous Frederician porcelain service of the Breslauer Stadtschloss. The greatest attractions are an 18th-century rococo mirror and a chandelier, which adorned one of the palace’s chambers until the end of the war and which have regained their lustre thanks to extensive conservation work carried out especially for this exhibition.
The works on display have been borrowed from more than 30 museums (including the National Museums in Warsaw and Kraków, the Wawel Royal Castle, the King John III Palace Museum in Wilanów, the Castle Museum in Pszczyna), church institutions and private collections. An extremely valuable embroidered women’s set from the castle in Oleśnica, one of only two items of this class in the world, has been loaned from the National Museum in Warsaw.
The beginning and end of the Rococo story are installations prepared especially for this exhibition by contemporary artists Robert Sochacki and Olaf Brzeski. Works by other contemporary artists reinterpret Rococo art and enter dialogue with it. The exhibition is open until 14. January 2024.
Arkadiusz Słomczyński