Light and Shadow. The Legacy of the Witkiewicz Family
The Tatra Museum in Zakopane, which owns the exhibition, holds in its photographic archive the largest collection of glass negatives by the Witkiewicz family. The majority are the work of Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (Witkacy) — an outstanding painter, photographer, writer, and philosopher — and his father, Stanisław Witkiewicz, creator of the Zakopane Style, the first Polish national style, expressed notably in architecture and applied arts.
The exhibition presents a selection of 35 photographs from the Museum’s collection. The chosen images revolve around three main themes: portraiture (the human figure), landscape — both as an independent subject and with added staffage — and art, seen both as an autonomous theme and as a workplace or complement to the figure. The photographs reveal attempts to explore various artistic challenges: composition and framing, light and shadow, and atmosphere. This selection shows different approaches to depicting both models and landscapes. One can also observe how the Witkiewicz gentlemen approached self-portraiture, how they were photographed by those close to them, and how the same models were portrayed by different authors.
The photographs on display were also taken by Jan “Koszczyc” Witkiewicz and his sister Maria Witkiewiczówna (Dziudzia) — children of Jan Witkiewicz, brother of Stanisław.
The exhibition’s curator, on behalf of the Tatra Museum, is Zofia Radwańska. Its presentation at the 11th Vintage Photo Festival, prepared in cooperation with the Zegart Agency, takes place in the year marking the 110th anniversary of the father’s death and the 140th anniversary of the son’s birth — a timing that is far from coincidental.
Opening:
19.09.2025 | 19:30
Opening hours:
Tuesday–Thurdsay | 10:00–18:00
Friday | 12:00–20:00
Saturday–Sunday | 12:00–17:00
Gallery of Modern Art Leon Wyczółkowski District Museum in Bydgoszcz