The main aim of the exhibition is to highlight the astounding diversity of the works comprising the collections of the Poznań Cabinet of Prints and Drawings. The origins of this collection date back as far as 1893, to the Provinzial-Museum - the Prussian predecessor of the National Museum in Poznań. The institution collected artistic prints, mainly German, and acquired works by artists associated with Poland. Far Eastern art was also within its sphere of interest.

After Poland regained its independence, the collection was catalogued and, in 1926, a separate department was established, which was expanded throughout the century through donations and acquisitions (with particular growth recorded in the 1960s and 1970s). Now, to mark the 100th anniversary of the Department of Prints and Drawings, fifty of the most interesting and valuable works have been selected from among thousands. These works are usually kept in storage and, for conservation reasons, rarely exhibited. The October exhibition will therefore provide an opportunity to view a selection of prints which the curators, Danuta Rościszewska and Agnieszka Salamon-Radecka, have deemed the most interesting.

"These fifty works will include a copperplate engraving by Wit Stwosz, whose graphic work is almost unknown to the wider public. Only two of his prints are held in Poland, one of which, The Beheading of St James, is in our collection,' says Danuta Rościszewska. "We will also be exhibiting Dürer's woodcut Christ Expelling the Moneylenders from the Temple, which Rembrandt greatly admired. Visitors will also be able to admire his composition Christ and the Samaritan Woman, in two different prints. Among the later works, it is worth noting a lithograph by Edvard Munch, created whilst he was undergoing treatment following a nervous breakdown. In addition to the prints [on display], there will also be a subtle watercolour by the Neo-Impressionist Paul Signac, Landscape with Boats, and an Impressionist watercolour by Władysław Podkowiński, Girl in the Garden. And there will also be works by Goltzius, Chodowiecki, Pankiewicz, Kantor, Wyczółkowski, Käthe Kollwitz, Max Klinger and others,' he adds.

The exhibition will be complemented by works by Jeremiasz Falck, Aleksander Orłowski, Feliks Jabłczyński, Władysław Skoczylas, Maria Jarema and others. We will see works created using a variety of printmaking techniques - from woodcut and linocut, through engraved and etched metal plates, to lithographs. Several print plates will also be on display. The exhibition is accompanied by a rich programme of supporting events.

Szymon Mazur

translated by Krzysztof Kotkowski

100th anniversary of the Cabinet of Prints and Drawings of the National Museum of Poznań
2-31.10, The National Museum of Poznań

© Wydawnictwo Miejskie Posnania 2026