Silesian Museum in Katowice ( pl, Muzeum Śląskie w Katowicach) is a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make th ...

in the City of

Katowice Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most popu ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

History

The museum was founded in 1929 by the

Silesian Sejm Silesian Parliament or Silesian Sejm ( pl, Sejm Śląski) was the governing body of the Silesian Voivodeship (1920–1939), an autonomous voivodeship of the Second Polish Republic between 1920 and 1945. It was elected in democratic elections and h ...

, while the region was recovering from the Silesian Uprisings. In the XX century interbellum, the Silesian Museum in Katowice was one of the biggest museums in Poland. The

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

s however brought the collection to

Bytom Bytom (Polish pronunciation: ; Silesian: ''Bytōm, Bytōń'', german: Beuthen O.S.) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. Located in the Silesian Voivodeship of Poland, the city is 7 km northwest of Katowice, the regional capi ...

and tore the building down in 1940. In 1984 the museum was reinstated in the former Grand Hotel. In 2015 a new seat was opened on the site of the former ''Katowice''

coal mine Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

(See article in German or article in Polish) founded by Carl Lazarus Henckel von Donnersmarck including old extant buildings, but the primary

exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibitio ...

space is underground in what was the mine.

Collection

Permanent exhibitions cover: *

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( pl, Górny Śląsk; szl, Gůrny Ślůnsk, Gōrny Ślōnsk; cs, Horní Slezsko; german: Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ; la, Silesia Superior) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, locate ...

over the course of history, presented in Polish, English, and German, and notably addressing sensitive issues such as the area's German cultural heritage and relationship with Germany – topics taboo under the Communist regime. *

Polish Art Art in Poland refers to all forms of visual art in or associated with Poland. Nineteenth century Polish art has often reflected European trends while maintaining its unique character. The Kraków school of history painting developed by Jan ...

1800–1945 * Gallery of non-Professional Art * Polish Art after 1945 * On the trail of Tomek Wilmowski * Sacred Art * Silesian industry * Laboratory of theatrical space * Silesian industry in the arms production of the 19th–20th c.

Artists on display

Among the works of Polish art are remarkable examples portraits by

Stanisław Wyspiański Stanisław Mateusz Ignacy Wyspiański (; 15 January 1869 – 28 November 1907) was a Polish playwright, painter and poet, as well as interior and furniture designer. A patriotic writer, he created a series of symbolic, national dramas withi ...

, paintings by

Olga Boznańska Olga Boznańska (15 April 1865 – 26 October 1940) was a Polish painter of the turn of the 20th century. She was a notable painter in Poland and Europe, and was stylistically associated with the French impressionism, though she rejected this lab ...

Henryk Rodakowski Henryk Hipolit Rodakowski (; 1823–1894) was a Polish painter. Biography He came from a well-known family of lawyers. Continuing the family tradition between 1841 and 1845, he studied law in Vienna. Later he studied painting under Joseph Danha ...

Jan Matejko Jan Alojzy Matejko (; also known as Jan Mateyko; 24 June 1838 – 1 November 1893) was a Polish painter, a leading 19th-century exponent of history painting, known for depicting nodal events from Polish history. His works include large scale ...

Józef Chełmoński Józef Marian Chełmoński (November 7, 1849 – April 6, 1914) was a Polish painter of the realist school with roots in the historical and social context of the late Romantic period in partitioned Poland. He is famous for monumental painti ...

Aleksander Gierymski Ignacy Aleksander Gierymski (30 January 1850, Warsaw – d. 6–8 March 1901, Rome) was a Polish painter of the late 19th century, the younger brother of Maksymilian Gierymski. He was a representative of Realism as well as an important prec ...

Jacek Malczewski Jacek Malczewski (; 15 July 1854 – 8 October 1929) was a Polish symbolist painter who is one of the most revered painters of Poland, associated with the patriotic Young Poland movement following a century of Partitions. He is regarded as the ...

, Leon Wyczółkowski,

Józef Pankiewicz Józef Pankiewicz (29 November 1866, in Lublin – 4 July 1940, in La Ciotat) was a Polish impressionist painter, graphic artist and teacher who spent much of his career in France. Biography From 1884 to 1885, he studied at the School of Fine Ar ...

Władysław Podkowiński Władysław Podkowiński (; February 4, 1866 – January 5, 1895) was a Polish master painter and illustrator associated with the Young Poland movement during the Partition period. Career Podkowiński was born in Warsaw and began his art ...

, and Jan Stanisławski. Other artists on display from the original collection, returned from Bytom, are: *

Jan Cybis Jan Cybis (16 February 1897 - 13 December 1972) was a prominent Polish painter and art teacher. Biography Cybis was born in Fröbel (now Wróblin, Opole Voivodeship, Poland) and studied at the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, se ...

* Henryk Derczynski *

Tadeusz Makowski Tadeusz Makowski (29 January 1882, Oświęcim - 1 November 1932, Paris) was a Polish painter who worked in France and was associated with the School of Paris. Biography From 1902 to 1906, he studied classical philology at the Jagiellonian Univ ...

Józef Mehoffer Józef Mehoffer (19 March 1869 – 8 July 1946) was a Polish painter and decorative artist, one of the leading artists of the Young Poland movement and one of the most revered Polish artists of his time. Life Mehoffer was born in Ropczyce, ...

Piotr Michałowski Piotr Michałowski (July 2, 1800 – June 9, 1855) was a Polish painter of the Romantic period, especially known for his many portraits, and oil studies of horses. Broadly educated, he was also a social activist, legal advocate, city administr ...

* *

Stanisław Witkiewicz Stanisław Witkiewicz ( lt, Stanislovas Vitkevičius) (8 May 1851 – 5 September 1915) was a Polish painter, art theoretician, and amateur architect, known for his creation of " Zakopane Style". Life Witkiewicz was born in Poszawsze in ...

* Witold Wojtkiewicz More contemporary artists on display are: , Adam Marczyński,

Andrzej Wróblewski Andrzej Wróblewski (15 June 1927 - 23 March 1957) was a Polish figurative painter who died in a mountaineering accident in 1957 when he was only 29. He is recognized by many as one of Poland's most prominent artists in the early post World War ...

Tadeusz Kantor Tadeusz Kantor (6 April 1915 – 8 December 1990) was a Polish painter, assemblage and Happenings artist, set designer and theatre director. Kantor is renowned for his revolutionary theatrical performances in Poland and abroad. Laureate of ...

Jerzy Nowosielski Jerzy Nowosielski (January 7, 1923 – February 21, 2011) was a Kraków-born Polish painter, graphic artist, scenographer, and illustrator. He was well known for his religious compositions ( wall paintings, iconostases, polychromies) in th ...

Władysław Hasior Władysław Hasior (Polish pronunciation: , May 14, 1928 – July 14, 1999) was one of the leading Polish contemporary sculptors connected with the Podhale region. He was also a painter and theatre set designer. Biography Władysław Hasior was ...

, Zdzisław Beksiński,

Lech Majewski Lech Majewski (pronounced , ‘Ma-yev-ski’) (born 30 August 1953) is a Polish film and theatre director, writer, poet, and painter. Life and career Born in Katowice, Poland, Majewski studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. In the 1970 ...

, Zbigniew Libera, Natalia LL.

Gallery

File:GlowackiJanNepomucen.1840.PotokGorski.jpg, ''Mountain Stream'',

Jan Nepomucen Głowacki Jan Nepomucen Głowacki (1802 – July 28, 1847) was a Polish realist painter of the Romantic era, regarded as the most outstanding landscape painter of the early 19th century in Poland under the foreign partitions. Głowacki studied painting ...

File:Muzeum Śląskie - Jan Matejko - Ostatni Daszkiewicz 02.jpg, ''Portrait of Hetman Ostafij Daszkiewicz'',

Mat-ciechonski.jpg, ''Portrait of Józef Ciechoński'', Jan Matejko File:J Chełmoński - Powrót z balu (1879).jpg, ''Sleigh Ride'',

File:Stanisław Wyspiański - Widok z okna pracowni na Kopiec Kościuszki (1904).jpg, ''View of Kościuszko Mound'',

File:Skoczylas-Owocobranie.jpg, ''Fruit Picking'',

Władysław Skoczylas Władysław Skoczylas (4 April 1883, Wieliczka – 8 April 1934, Warsaw) was a Polish watercolorist, woodcutter, sculptor and art teacher. Biography His father was a foreman in the salt mines. He graduated from the gymnasium in Bochnia, then ...

Aleksander_Gierymski_Zydowka_z_cytrynami.jpg, ''Jewess with Lemons'',

WladyslawPodkowinski.Autoportret.1887.ws.jpg, ''Self-portrait'',

Olga_Boznańska_1906_W_bialym_kapeluszu.jpg, ''Portrait of a Lady in a Hat'',

Dziewczynka_z_kanarkiem.jpg, ''Girl with Canary'',

Leopold Loeffler Leopold Loeffler, also spelled Löffler, (October 27, 1827 – February 6, 1898), was a Polish realist painter of the late Romantic period popular in the second half of the 19th century under the foreign partitions of Poland. Lithographic re ...

. Owned by the museum, lost between 1939 and 1945, returned in 2015.

References

Works and publications

* * Wojciech Janota: Katowice między wojnami. Miasto i jego sprawy 1922–1939. Łódź: Księży Młyn, 2010, s. 110, 111. .

External links

*
The Silesian Museum: The Architecture of Identity
{{authority control Museums established in 1929 Buildings and structures in Katowice Silesian culture Museums in Silesian Voivodeship History museums in Poland Art museums and galleries in Poland Printing press museums Military and war museums in Poland Registered museums in Poland Adaptive reuse of industrial structures in Poland Tourist attractions in Katowice