Until 5 March 2023, the Zachęta National Gallery of Art is showing the exhibition ‘Kulisiewicz. Lapidary Beauty’, which was visited by the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Culture and National Heritage Prof. Piotr Gliński.
“Kulisiewicz is a singular artist who has chosen his own path over the years. Here you can see works from all periods of his oeuvre, from his magnificent woodcuts, still from before the war, to his fascination with Eastern culture. Thanks to him, during the communist era, we had contact with the finest art, which also reflected cultural phenomena original to us”, said Prof. Piotr Gliński.
Lapidary Beauty is a story about how individual chapters of the artist’s life shaped his original and outstanding language of expression over the years.
Zachęta emphasises that the exhibition of works by Tadeusz Kulisiewicz “takes the viewer into the world of woodcuts from the Szlembark series and pre-war dry-erase prints, to then show the wealth of drawings created through many technical, stylistic and thematic explorations, transformations or experiments”.
This wide-ranging approach to the subject provides a unique selection of works not previously shown in a single space. The exhibition includes prints, drawings and sketches created throughout the artist’s life, including those from his inspiring travels to China, India, South America or Cuba.
The works on display come from a number of galleries and museums, such as the National Museum in Warsaw, the Asia-Pacific Museum and the Zachęta National Gallery of Art, as well as the Museum of the Polish Army and the Museum of Warsaw. A significant part of the exhibition is made up of the private collections of Wanda and Leonard Pietraszak, Jacek Kudelski and Jacek Łozowski.
“Kulisiewicz’s line is peculiar, perhaps more from Matisse or Picasso , but it seems to go back to a much older tradition. This is art that does not cheat, because it is based on craft. The basis is talent, work, workshop”, said Professor Piotr Gliński.
Adrian Andrzejewski