Temporary exhibitions

Orientalism in Polish Art

23 October 2014 – 18 January 2015
Pera Museum of the Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation in Istanbul


The exhibition of Polish orientalism in painting is part of a cycle of events celebrating the 600th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between Poland and Turkey, which falls in 2014. The purpose of the exhibition is to introduce the Turkish audience to the oriental trend in Polish painting, which was one of the major artistic trends in European painting. Polish Orientalism has multiple distinct and specific characteristics which the organisers of the exhibition wish to highlight.


The exhibition presents paintings, drawings and engravings kept in the spirit of Orientalism, starting with seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Sarmatian portraits, through the works by Jan Christian Kamsetzer created at the end of the eighteenth century, up to the works of nineteenth-century painters. Special emphasis is put on painters active at the Sultan's court in Istanbul, such as Stanisław Chlebowski and Tadeusz Ajdukiewicz, as well as painters who paid visits to Turkey – Jan Matejko, Wacław Pawliszak, Jan Ciągliński and Jacek Malczewski.


The exhibition was prepared by the National Museum in Warsaw, employing Polish collections from: the National Museum in Warsaw, the National Museum in Cracow, the National Museum in Poznań, National Museum in Wrocław, the University of Warsaw Library and the Royal Łazienki Museum in Warsaw. The exhibition will be opened in October 2014 in Pera Museum of the Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation in Istanbul. It includes 182 paintings, drawings and engravings as well as specimen of the Polish national costume. A number of paintings by Stanisław Chlebowski from the collection of the Istanbul Military Museum will also enrich the exposition.


Prof. Tadeusz Majda



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