ZAMEK Culture Centre

Exhibition Hall and historical spaces: Birch Room, Walnut Room, Marble Room, Columned Hall and Imperial Hall.

ZAMEK Culture Centre in Poznań.
tickets: 25 PLN (regular), 20 PLN (student), 15 PLN (group)

exhibition curator: Krystyna Kulig-Janarek | National Museum in Krakow

tickets

Pierre Bonnard, Lucien Pissarro, Auguste Renoir, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Paul Signac, Alfons Mucha. What is a common thing among them? The works of these and many more great artists of the fin de siècle, which are the foundations of modern art, will be displayed in ZAMEK Culture Centre in September.

This autumn we shall search for colour and delve into its essence. In the Culture Centre you will find more than 100 graphic works created by some of the finest French artists of  the 19th and 20th century, such as Pierre Bonnard, Jules Chéret, Maurice Denis, Eugène Grasset, Henri Gabriel Ibels, Auguste Lepère, Lucien Pissarro, Pierre  Puvis de Chavannes, Paul-Élie Ranson, Henri Rivière, Auguste Renoir, Paul Signac, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Édouard Vuillard, Jacques Villon or other artists with a French connection: Georges de Feure, Alfons Mucha, Félicien Rops and Alfred Sisley.

The set of French artists’ masterpieces from the National Museum in Krakow mostly comes from the collection of Feliks Jasienski, an excellent collector, donor and patron of the arts.  It will allow us to follow through the evolution of using colours in arts, which so far were dominated by black and white. The end of  the 19th century in France brought a rapid development of this branch of art, which often served for reporter’s duty or advertising appetite, gained a brand new format and personality. There was a breakthrough – not only noticeable in calendars – which brought to fame peintres grauvers (painter-graphic artists) and ennoblement of graphics as a field of art.

The collection of works showcased in the Culture Centre will be supplemented by posters from an old collection found in the Museum of Science and Industry in Krakow.

Alongside the exhibition, there’s also a rich educational program with specially prepared lessons, meetings, lectures and workshops. The program is built around the issues regarding colour, its essence, nature, properties, structure, history and applications. During the event we can focus on colour in the context of its history, as well as other colours found in ZAMEK. During the lectures, the audience will be able to learn more about colours as a phenomenon that occurs in nature, delve into the secrets of pigments and their use in industrial graphics. They will also explore methods of using colours in mass culture and the meaning of respective colours in all sorts of traditions all around the globe.

Meetings in the form of lectures will be devoted to a few selected artworks exhibited in the display. It’s a fantastic opportunity not only to expand your knowledge but also exercise your eye. We will answer the question of “how it’s done”, exploring the matter of form.

The cycle of workshops will allow both adults and children to try out their practical skills, we will learn the process of creating and transferring graphics onto other materials. Additionally, classes directed towards school youth will bring the world of colour and its nomenclature and application much closer to them.

The audio guide will also be available during the tour around the exhibition. This form of surveying the exposition was extremely popular during the Antoni Gaudi exhibition. The soundtrack which was recorded specifically for this display will open the visitors to a colourful world of masterpieces created by French artists.