The Contemporary Art Collection was established in 1958, when some 1,500 canvases were separated out of the National Museum in Warsaw’s department of Polish painting. This part of the collection presently numbers approximately 5,000 paintings by Polish artists as well as 300 foreign works, all executed in the 20th century. The working division adopted for classification purposes places late 19th and early 20th century symbolism on one side of the line and the new artistic tendencies manifesting themselves around the time of World War I on the other. The collection spanning 1910 through 1939 and 1945 through to the present constitutes a chronological continuation of the collection of Polish painting, encompassing works acquired by the various public collections before World War II as well as later purchases and gifts. The Contemporary Art Collection also includes an applied arts and design section administered by theModern Design Centre established in 1979.