Studies on the history of art, as well as most museum galleries, present a long-established canon of “great artists.” Among Polish artists of the 19th and first half of the 20th century, women are represented, apart from Olga Boznańska, by only a few female painters. Meanwhile, several hundred educated women were involved in artistic activities at that time – painters, printmakers, sculptors, craftswomen, designers, and architects. Their legacy has been forgotten for various, sometimes not obvious reasons, and a false belief about its banality or even non-existence has prevailed in the public consciousness. The exhibition at the National Museum in Lublin will be an attempt to change this state of affairs!

The turn of the 19th and 20th centuries was a time of the most dynamic changes in the female presence in the sphere of art. The generation of women living in the period of Partitions was deprived of the opportunity for an academic education. Their artistic ambitions were considered inappropriate, unacceptable and impossible to achieve. It was not until the beginning of the 20th century that women’s art began to function as an independent phenomenon. The work of female artists was becoming more and more independent and was gaining recognition.

The aim of the exhibition is to show the significance of women’s work in the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries in artistic life. The Lublin Castle will present several hundred works of art created by 133 artists working in Poland and abroad, including: Olga Boznańska, Zofia Stryjeńska, Mela Muter, Alicja Halicka, Anna Bilińska, Magdalena Gross, Anna Rajecka, Katarzyna Kobro, Aniela Pająkówna, Ewa Łunkiewicz Rogoyska, Małgorzata Łada-Maciągowa, Wanda Chełmońska, Estera Karp, Dora Bianka, and Teresa Roszkowska. The works gathered in the exhibition come from private and museum collections from Poland, France and Luxembourg. A significant part of the works have not been exhibited before.

The time has come to bring these artists out of oblivion!

“A woman and a paintbrush? Nonsense!”. Polish Women Artists 1850-1950
Lublin Castle, April 26–October 5, 2025
Exhibition opening: April 25, at 18:00
Curator of the exhibition: Bożena Kasperowicz

The exhibition is held under the honorary patronage of
Hanna Wróblewska, Minister Kultury i Dziedzictwa Narodowego
Ministry of Culture and National Heritage
Dr Krzysztof Żuk, Prezydenta Miasta Lublin