Utamaro

Friday, January 17, 2025 - Sunday, April 13, 2025

  • Friday, January 17, 2025 - Sunday, April 13, 2025
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Japanese woodblock prints from the collection of the National Museum in Krakow. It is with great satisfaction that we invite visitors to an exhibition of the works of Kitagawa Utamaro (1754–1806), one of the greatest masters of Japanese woodblock prints of the Edo period (1603–1868).

Utamaro, widely regarded as connoisseur and bard of feminine beauty, was one of the first Japanese to fall under the spell of a fascination with the Western world in the early 19th century. His brilliant and timeless stylistic and formal achievements, including close-up framing of the subject, half-length views from the knees up, and a completely innovative portrait framing of faces called ōkubi-e (large-headed pictures), influenced the way that later Japanese artists portrayed figures.

The narrative of the exhibition will be based on the classic thematic categories which organise Japanese art, such as  bijin-ga (portraits of beautiful women) or boshi-e (pictures of mothers with children, illustrating their shared fun and games, often with a considerable sense of humour which was also appreciated by viewers beyond the borders of Japan). Of special interest are two unique Utamaro prints which are the only existing copies in the world, both of which are the property of the National Museum in Krakow. The first of these, depicting the samurai Minamoto-no Yorimitsu hunting, is considered to be of the musha-e type, that is images of warriors, while the second, entitled “Planting rice”, draws on the fūkeiga style of landscape painting.

The woodblock prints will be presented in a way that relates to the daily reality of life and the culture of the times in which they were created and the world in which the master Utamaro lived. To facilitate this, the exhibition space will be complemented with artistic handicrafts, including lacquerware, utensils for calligraphy, and musical instruments. To draw attention to the beauty of the garments worn by the figures in the portraits, historic textiles will be displayed, including kimonos and other costumes along with accessories such as traditional  haori jackets, michiyuki travelling cloaks, geta sandals, fans, mirrors, and furoshiki wrapping cloths.

The exhibition, which will place the artist and the world of the people he portrayed amongst a specific ensemble of traditional Japanese motifs, will show in total approximately 300 items.

An unprecedented strength of the planned exhibition is the possibility to create a complete narrative based solely on collections owned by the National Museum in Krakow, deriving both from the historic donation by Feliks “Manggha” Jasieński in 1920 and from the exceptionally precious acquisitions of recent years (such as the Japanese items purchased from the collection of Józef Mehoffer), as well as from donations made to the NMK after 2005.

Thanks to this outstanding collection and many years of development of assets in substantive and conservation terms, we are able to present a multi-dimensional exhibition which we believe will delight very diverse audiences. 

The Main Building

al. 3 Maja 1

The central phenomena of the Polish art of the 20th and 21st century, the history of Polish weaponry and uniforms, a gallery of crafts, and a dozen major temporary exhibitions each year.

The quickly expanding collection of the National Museum, set up in 1879, soon needed space that Kraków did not have at that time. That is why the idea to erect a new building that at the same time would commemorate the many years of efforts to regain Poland’s independence was born early in the 20th century. Immediately after the end of the First World War, already in free Poland, funds for the construction of an appropriate seat began to be raised. The construction of the building by the imposing Aleje Trzech Wieszczów, staked out just two decades earlier, began in 1934. Today, the National Museum in Kraków boasts several branches, with no fewer than three permanent galleries in the Main Building alone. Deposited on the ground floor are the collections of militaria: the exhibition Arms and Uniforms in Poland (gallery closed until further notice) presents the history of the Polish military from the Middle Ages to the Second World War. The Gallery of Decorative Arts boasts collections of fabrics, goldsmithry, glass, ceramics, furniture, musical instruments, and Judaica that let the visitor trace changes in style from the early Middle Ages to the 20th century. The Polish Art Gallery presents the chronology and key tendencies in painting, sculpture and printmaking as created by the Polish artists of the 20th and 21st century. The largest temporary exhibitions of the National Museum in Kraków are organised in specially designed halls.

Tickets to permanent galleries: normal PLN 35, concessions PLN 25, family PLN 70, admission free to permanent exhibitions on Tuesday

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