Art Collection of the Society of the Friends of Fine Arts in Krakow

The Society of the Friends of Fine Arts in Krakow was established in 1854 as the first institution of its kind on Polish lands. The initiative for its founding came from Walery Wielogłowski, who led the founding committee and drafted the statute that would guide the Society’s activities. The inaugural meeting of the Society was held on January 21, 1854, in the building of the Technical School at 22 Gołębia Street, chaired by Ambroży Grabowski. During this meeting, the statute, previously approved by the authorities in Vienna, was adopted, and the first Directorate was elected, with Władysław Sanguszko as president, Henryk Wodzicki as vice-president, and Walery Wielogłowski as secretary.
The operational principles and organizational structure of the Society were modeled on similar foreign institutions. The main goal was to foster and promote a love for the fine arts in the country and to morally and materially support Polish artists. To achieve these broad objectives, various initiatives were undertaken, the most important of which was the organization of continuous exhibitions. These exhibitions provided artists, especially those from Galicia and the Kingdom of Poland, with the opportunity to showcase their work to the local audience, while also offering the public a glimpse of contemporary painting.
For many years, the TPSP halls, as the only exhibition venue in Krakow, became the debut platform for the most prominent Polish artists, including Jan Matejko, Julian Fałat, Włodzimierz Tetmajer, Stanisław Wyspiański, Józef Mehoffer, Jacek Malczewski, and others.
Initially, TPSP’s statutory tasks included creating its own collection of artworks that would help cultivate general taste, increase appreciation for art, and foster healthy and fair criticism. The core of this collection was to be the “Dąbski Gallery,” entrusted to the Society indefinitely by Directorate member Władysław Dąbski. Besides the 200 paintings in this collection, the Society also owned several other works acquired through donations or purchased with funds accumulated for monumental works. To date, the TPSP art collection has significantly expanded both in terms of the uniqueness and museum value of its objects and the number of works it possesses.
In 2004, the 170th anniversary of the establishment of the Society of Friends of Fine Arts in Krakow was celebrated. Therefore, in September and October of last year, we celebrated our anniversary at the Palace of Fine Arts with a ceremonial vernissage together with invited guests, officials and friends of TPSP, at which, among other things, we honored selected and distinguished individuals and institutions with TPSP 170th Anniversary Medals and TPSP Patron of Art Medals.
During the current exhibition "Art Collection of the Society of the Friends of Fine Arts in Krakow", showing the richness of our collections, you will see works by, among others:, Teodor Axentowicz, Wlastimil Hofman, Alfons Karpiński, Damazy Kotowski, Konstanty Laszczka, Jacek Malczewski and Józef Mehoffer.