The turn of the 19th and 20th centuries was a time when very diverse art flourished in Poland. This time is commonly referred to as modernism and includes the various faces of the emerging modern art.

The art of the Nineteenth Century is features examples of works by the most prominent artists who established the early Polish modernist traditions and influenced their later development. The most outstanding examples include: Piotr Michałowski, Jan Matejko, Józef Brandt, Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski, Henryk Siemiradzki, Władysław Czachórski, Wilhelm Kotarbiński, Maksymilian Gierymski, Aleksander Gierymski, January Suchodolski, Franciszek Żmurko, Wojciech Gerson, Artur Grottger, Juliusz Kossak.

At that time, painting associated with the national liberation movement was developing most rapidly. International movements and trends such as Romanticism, Realism and Impressionism permeated each other and influenced Polish artists. At the same time, the first works associated with Symbolism in Polish painting began to be created.

At our auctions we present the work of the most outstanding modernist artists such as: Jacek Malczewski, Leon Wyczółkowski, Julian Fałat, Stanisław Wyspiański, Jan Stanisławski, Witold Wojtkiewicz, Wojciech Weiss, Olga Boznańska, Józef Mehoffer, Ferdynand Ruszczyc, Konrad Krzyżanowski, Władysław Ślewiński, Józef Pankiewicz, Władysław Podkowiński.

Polish art of the Interwar Period was a time of formation of numerous artistic groups. In the work of the Formists we can find echoes of cubism and futurism, which we can see in the works of Andrzej and Zbigniew Pronaszek or Tytus Czyżewski. The group of Polish artists “Rhythm” was more traditional, contrary to the extreme avant-garde trends, as exemplified by the works of Wacław Borowski, Roman Kramsztyk, Eugeniusz Zak and Zofia Stryjeńska.

Kapists, otherwise known as the Polish Colourists, were a group of painters who in their programme put emphasis on the issues of colour, thus referring to the impressionists. Among them were: Józef Pankiewicz, Jan Cybis, Hanna Rudzka-Cybisowa, Zygmunt Waliszewski, Artur Nacht-Samborski, Piotr Potworowski and Józef Czapski.

Works dating back to the 19th century achieve record prices at our auctions, the best example of which is the painting “Zabicie Wapowskiego w czasie koronacji Henryka Walezego” (The Killing of Wapowski during the coronation of Henryk Walezy) by Jan Matejko, which was auctioned for 3 200 000 PLN.