Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (Witkacy) with his father, photo: courtesy of the Library of Tatrzańskie Muzeum in Zakopane
The exhibition “The Angel and a Son. The Witkiewicz family in Zakopane and Lithuania”.
The exhibition discusses the long-standing relationship between father and son, the exclusive ties of two close Polish artists representing different generations. The difficult process of bringing up a young person to a parent has become a major task. Mutual understanding, daily rituals to assure safety, considerations of various problems of a wide spectrum – the arts, literature, science, politics and, most importantly, the life itself – had undoubtedly influenced the personality and artistic orientation of Witkac, one of the most prominent and most interesting Polish artists of the 20th century.
The exhibition should bring interest in transformations of different generations of one family, to stimulate debates about the artistic environment that is constantly changing. In other words, the transition from the idea of father’s realistic painting of the 19th century, up to the latest trends of the 20th century and avant-garde.
Organizers: The Tatra Museum in Zakopane, M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art, The Adam Mickiewicz Institute (Warsaw), Polish Institute in Vilnius.
The project is part of the international cultural program “POLSKA 100” coordinated by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, implemented under the multiannual program for 2017–2021 “NIEPODLEGŁA”.