Polish Painting
The painting collection of the Lublin Museum consists of over 1,600 works, primarily Polish paintings from the 17th to the 20th century, along with a small collection of European paintings. The origins of the collection date back to the pre-war period, but only a few works from that time remain, including paintings by Aleksander Kokular, Apoloniusz Kędzierski, Kazimierz Alchimowicz, and Louis de Silvestre.
After the war, the collection was rebuilt almost from scratch, aiming to present a comprehensive overview of Polish painting from the Baroque to contemporary times.
The 17th and 18th centuries are mainly represented by portraits. The oldest among them is a portrait of Queen Bona, displayed in a beautiful, original frame bearing the Sforza coat of arms. A large part of the collection consists of Sarmatian portraits, including depictions of figures associated with Lublin’s history, such as Adam Szaniawski (the Castellan of Lublin) and Kajetan Hryniewiecki (the last Voivode of Lublin in the First Polish Republic). The collection also includes a coffin portrait.
Examples of courtly portraiture include the Portrait of King Stanisław August Poniatowski in his coronation attire and the Portrait of Primate Michał Poniatowski, both from the workshop of Marcello Bacciarelli.
The 19th-century paintings, which are more numerous, document the evolution of Polish painting from Classicism through Romanticism to Realism. This section includes works by renowned portraitists such as Józef Pitschmann, Józef Reichan, Józef Simmler, and Kazimierz Kaniewski.
Landscape painting is represented by works of Ferdynand Lampi, Christian Breslauer, Antoni Malinowski, and Józef Brandt.
The historical painting genre includes:
- “Mohort on the Borderlands” by Juliusz Kossak,
- “Queen Jadwiga and Dymitr of Goraj” by Wojciech Gerson,
- “The Reception of Jews in Poland” by Jan Matejko.
Genre painting is relatively scarce but includes works by Zygmunt Ajdukiewicz, Franciszek Kostrzewski, and Henryk Lipiński.
The late 19th century is represented by artists such as Jacek Malczewski, Jan Stanisławski, Leon Wyczółkowski, Kazimierz Krzyżanowski, Olga Boznańska, and Apoloniusz Kędzierski.
The 20th-century paintings form the largest part of the collection, accounting for over 70% of the total holdings. Though not a cohesive collection, it features a broad selection of leading Polish artists representing various movements, including:
- Tytus Czyżewski, Tymon Niesiołowski, Rafał Malczewski, Tadeusz Makowski, Eugeniusz Zak, Henryk Stażewski, Władysław Strzemiński, Roman Kramsztyk, Jerzy Nowosielski, Władysław Hasior, Tadeusz Kantor, Kazimierz Mikulski, Andrzej Wróblewski, Zygmunt Waliszewski, Erna Rosenstein, Jan Lebenstein.
A significant part of the 20th-century collection consists of paintings by artists from Lublin, including Zbigniew Kononowicz, Jerzy Karmański, Wacław Filipiak, Jan Ziemski, Tytus Dzieduszycki, Władysław Borowski, Ryszard Lis, Jerzy Popek, and Tadeusz Kawiak.
Since 1976, the museum has organized the “Metaphor” national theoretical and artistic meetings, resulting in a collection of works by Erna Rosenstein, Henryk Waniek, Natalia Lach-Lachowicz, Andrzej Dłużniewski, and Andrzej Kołpanowicz.
Foreign Painting
The foreign painting collection comprises approximately 80 works and does not form a cohesive collection. It includes Dutch, Flemish, and Italian paintings, as well as a few French, German, and Austrian works.
The most valuable painting in the collection is “Pontius Pilate Washing His Hands” by Hendrick ter Brugghen, painted around 1617.
Other notable works include:
- “Dog Fight with Foxes” by Abraham Hondius,
- “Still Life with Jug and Candle” by Hendrick Heemskerck,
- “Mocking” by Frans Francken II,
- “Concert”, painted by an unknown artist from the Caravaggio school,
- “Adoration of the Magi” by Michael Leopold Lukas Willmann,
- “Mountain Landscape” by Johann Christian Brand
