Bronisław Krystall. Bequest
19 November 2015 – 6 March 2016
The National Museum in Warsaw is delighted to announce an exhibition dedicated to Bronisław Krystall, a Warsaw collector, art historian, patron and benefactor who in his lifetime generously shared his collection with the nation and, in a moving bequest, left all that he owned to the National Museum. The exhibition, which presents a bounty of exceptional works of art in looking back at Krystall’s life through his art collection, is set to open on 19 November 2015 and will run until 6 March 2016.
For Bronisław Krystall, the titular “bequest” was by no means simply a measure to administer his estate in the event of death. It was rather a manifestation of the collector’s life philosophy, the culmination of which was a decision to name the National Museum in Warsaw as his sole beneficiary. Behind this decision is a long and complicated biography of a remarkable man, a lover of art and a champion of the common good.
Bronisław Krystall was born in 1887 into a Jewish family and the fortune he would inherit from his father allowed him to pursue his passion for collecting art. Having received an excellent education, Krystall dedicated himself to collecting works of art from a variety of fields and he supported artists by commissioning works from them. Throughout his life he remained loyal to his Jewish roots, as evidenced by the many valuable works of Judaica joining his collection. In the aftermath of the war, he made donations of these works to the newly-formed Jewish state as well as to the Warsaw community and the cemetery on Okopowa street. Yet, he welcomed other religious traditions, even formulating plans to establish an ecumenical museum dedicated to sacral art from all of the religions of Europe. Devastated by the unexpected death of his wife and, several years later, of his young son, the collector sought solace in the contemplation of Medieval Christian art, which made up a valuable part of his collection.
Bronisław Krystall was not spared by the Holocaust. In 1942, many of his loved ones, including his mother, brother, sister and mother-in-law, died in the Warsaw ghetto or were sent to concentration camps. Krystall himself managed to escape the ghetto and he remained in hiding in Warsaw’s Żoliborz district until the Warsaw Uprising. It was while in hiding that he lost his most beloved keepsake of his wife, her Amati violin, which he always kept close by.
Bronisław Krystall’s life was marked by a unique connection with the National Museum in Warsaw. With his first donation in June 1938, in honour of the grand opening of the Museum’s new building, he significantly enriched its collection of Polish painting. This kind gesture opened the door to continued cooperation with the Museum that would last until his death, a key event coming in September 1939, when we entrusted the bulk of his collection to the Museum in the form of a clandestine deposit. These works were labelled with the cryptic designation “JR” (the initials of his wife’s maiden name – Izabela Rotmil) to protect them from being confiscated as Jewish property. In his memoirs, the great former director of the Museum Stanisław Lorentz called Krystall a “great friend of the National Museum” for his assistance in key times of need.
Often maintaining direct contact with artists, Bronisław Krystall acquired for his collection great works of art by renowned personages like the painters Wojciech Kossak, Leon Wyczółkowski, Józef Chełmoński, Jacek Malczewski, Wojciech Weiss and Władysław Czachórski and sculptors Henryk Kuna, Edward Wittig and Xawery Dunikowski. In the “Bronisław Krystall. Testament” exhibition, along with works by the artists named above, the NMW also presents some outstanding pieces that arose out of the collector’s collaboration with Stanisław Noakowski (drawings) and Wacław Wąsowicz (ceramics). Also on display are other elements of Krystall’s collection, such as Medieval sculptures, prints, drawings, works of goldsmithery, ceramics, furniture and textiles along with a rich collection of books containing some very valuable old editions (including a Torah scroll from the late 19th/early 20th c.)
Krystall was also a great lover of opera and theatre. Wishing to pay tribute to his beloved wife, he commissioned a requiem from composer Karol Szymanowski, the result of which was an unforgettable classic in the Polish cultural canon – “Stabat Mater,” today a staple of concert halls worldwide. Visitors to the exhibition will be able to see an original score of the composition, acknowledged as one of Maestro Szymanowski’s greatest. In fact, musical motifs appear in many of the works in Krystall’s collection, with a particularly fitting example being Zofia Stryjeńska’s painting “A Concert by Beriot,” inspired by a concert given by Charles Auguste de Beriot, the Belgian violinist, composer, landscape painter and sculptor.
Rien que la beauté [Nothing but beauty] – this is the motto that Bronisław Krystall observed for the duration of his difficult yet productive life. After the war, his relationship with the National Museum grew even stronger; he offered his advice and aid, and his refined artistic reputation attracted other lovers of art. The collection left to the Museum, whose most precious works we present today at the exhibition, is a testimony to a particular way of looking at the world; full of passion, reflection and thoughtfulness, but also with great respect for others. The paintings and sculptures, drawings and prints, books and ceramics – collectively they reflect the figure of Bronisław Krystall, who was with us until 1983.