MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART IN RADOM-TWENTY TWO YEARS LATER

• Authors: Szewczuk, Mieczysław

Abstracts

EN

The Museum of Contemporary Art in Radom is a branch of the local Jacek Malczewski Museum. Its large collection of Polish art from the second half of the twentieth century increases almost exclusively thanks to donations. The Museum was established in 1990 during the phase of systemic transformation, when it took over collections created at the Museum of Art and dating from the post-Word War II period (1 797 exhibits) and a collection of the BWA Gallery in Radom (265 exhibits). It was also the first institution in Poland to be named a museum of contemporary art. The Museum is located in two Baroque town houses in the Radom Market Square: the Esterka House and the Gąska House. The Museum initiated its activity in May 1991, in 2011 it celebrated its twentieth anniversary, and the year 2012 marked two decades from the inauguration of a collection of donations, an anniversary attended by outstanding Polish artists (and several from abroad). One of the important collections was donated by Andrzej Wajda. All artworks are carefully selected, with their authors and other donors becoming the co-founders of the collection. This campaign made it possible to amass more than 2 500 exhibits and to mould the intellectual and educational programme of the Museum, decisive for the latter’s distinctness. The thus created vision of Polish post-war art is best defined by the title of one of the shows: “Collection 18. Art in Poland after 1945. Between the idea of modern art, reality and memory” (2009). The Museum displayed one of its most prominent collections under various titles: ”Art in Poland and public issues”, “Along the path towards freedom”, and ”Politics and ethics”. It also holds one-man shows of artists closely affiliated with the Radom institution. The Museum collections are composed of over 4 500 works of art created by representatives of several generations and typical for assorted currents, with pride of place given to exhibits executed in classical techniques. A large collection of Polish contemporary painting is accompanied by significant collections of portraits, self-portraits and drawings. Other exhibits include sculptures, a small collection of installations, graphic works by leading authors, photographs, and works by artists residing abroad (émigrés).

Keywords

EN

systemic transformation; contemporary art; anniversary; institution distinctness

• Publisher: Krajowy Ośrodek Badań i Dokumentacji Zabytków
• Journal: Muzealnictwo
• Year: 2013
• Volume: 54
• Pages: 117-124

Contributors

author

Szewczuk, Mieczysław