A writer, playwright, poet, painter, graphic artist, architect, and furniture designer. There were no limits to Stanisław Wyspiański’s talents. Regarded as one of the most prominent Polish artists, Wyspiański’s art shaped the course of Polish culture. In 2025, his portraits are exhibited in the UK for the first time – many of them have never been shown outside Poland.
As a leading figure of the modernist Young Poland (Młoda Polska) movement, Wyspiański (1869-1907) was hailed as the voice of a nation divided by the partitioners. In response to the country’s political nonbeing, Young Poland artists sought to create a new national art based on folk traditions, exploring cultural identity. “In his portraits, Wyspianski combines a bold line with ornamental colour to emphasise the inner drive and psychology of his models, many of whom were associated with Young Poland”, says Alison Smith, curator of Stanisław Wyspiański: Portraits exhibition.
An exhibition of sixteen of the artist’s most outstanding portraits is held at the National Portrait Gallery in London till July 13, 2025 – the result of a collaboration between the National Portrait Gallery, the National Museum in Kraków and the National Museum in Poznań, with the support of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the Polish Cultural Institute in London. It is also supported by the British Council as part of this year’s UK/Poland Season 2025, whose diverse programme includes over one hundred multi-format art events planned in forty cities across the UK and Poland.
In this special episode of Kitchen Conversations, Alison Smith – curator of the display, previously Chief Curator of the National Portrait Gallery, London, and currently Director of Collections and Research at the Wallace Collection – offers a glimpse into the unique pastel works of Wyspiański. Featuring stories of his sitters – including members of the Cracovian intelligentsia, his family, and the artist himself, as well as his decade-long struggle with an illness that profoundly shaped his life and creative output, Smith delves into the behind-the-scenes of the exhibition.
This episode was created for Contemporary LYNX with the support of the Polish Cultural Institute London.
Listen to the podcast here:
Stanisław Wyspiański: Portraits
March 27 – July 13, 2025
National Portrait Gallery, London
