Franciszek Starowieyski's Studio: A Provocative Retrospective

Franciszek Starowieyski is one of the most important and original Polish artists of the 20th century. He was an outstanding painter, draughtsman, graphic artist, creator of posters and stage designs for theatre and television performances, an expert and collector.

The exhibition entitled "Provocation is Decoration" was created in close cooperation with the artist's sons. An important element of it is the atelier, recreated with great care, transferred directly from the authentic atelier in Warsaw.

The exhibition features works from the artist's extensive collection, as well as drawings, calligraphic exercises, works on paper and canvas and juvenilia.

The exhibition was organised in the museum's Theatre and Film Department for a reason. From the 1980s, Starowieyski showed his creative process in his famous paratheatrical performances called Theatres of Drawing.

Large-scale, spectacular drawing works were created in front of the audience, often with nude models posing with musical accompaniment or literary commentary. The filming of the Drawing Theatres has today become an invaluable record of the creative process.

Franciszek Starowieyski often referred to the history of the 17th century, which fascinated and inspired him. From 1970 onwards, he antidated his works by going back 300 years, escaping from the present and heading towards the Baroque era that inspired him. 

He was fascinated by the Rubensian female body, sensuality, transience, calligraphy and the use of Baroque ornamentation. In his works he often referred to Dutch still life, using familiar interpretative tropes and the credo 'Vanitas vanitatum et omnia vanitas'. 

Throughout his life he passionately collected objects, books, furniture, engravings, vessels and numerous artefacts (including skulls). They became his inspiration, a source of study of the era, an element permanently associated with his rich and varied oeuvre.

Almost all the objects from Starowieyski's authentic studio have been transferred to the exhibition displays. Among the items, there was one of the most valuable objects that remained from the deceased artist.

A preliminary sketch of a work that the artist created a few days before his death in 2009. With just a few strokes of a marker on the foil of a new loom, it shows the incredible exuberance and creative energy of the artist, who continued to make art until his last moments.