Willmann Sought

25 September – 30 December 2026

Photo: Magdalena Lorek

Exhibition of paintings and graphic works inspired by the lost works of Michael Willmann by students of the S. Kopystyński High School of Fine Arts in Wrocław

The theme of the artistic project carried out by the Association of Friends of the National Museum in Wrocław and the S. Kopystyński High School of Fine Arts in Wrocław was the paintings by Michael Willmann lost during the Second World War. Students, under the guidance of their teachers, set out to recover the lost heritage of the most outstanding Baroque painter of Central Europe. The result of their work, presented in the Museum, is nearly 30 paintings, drawings and prints made in various techniques.

Many paintings by Michael Willmann were lost during the Second World War. Only black-and-white photographs remain, and it is these that became the starting point for the young art students. “Students had complete freedom to choose the work they would be inspired by,” says Katarzyna Matuszczyk-Lu, a teacher at the High School of Fine Arts in Wrocław. “It was also up to them whether it would be a classical copy or a more interpretive response to the master's legacy, which is why the works are so varied. One can see in them compositions based on the motifs and iconography of Willmann's paintings, works that refer to colour, and also to the brushwork of the Baroque artist. But what delights me most is that each author added to the master's legacy a little or quite a lot of their own style and painterly, drawing or graphic craft. In this way, Willmann regained, after many years, his lost colours, and at the same time gained a contemporary edge. I also hope that the adventure with Willmann was an interesting and enriching experience for them.”

Klaudia Rodak, project participant: “I chose the Willmann work whose compositional arrangement best suited my skills and tastes. I also paid attention to whether the elements of the painting belonged to things I usually like to paint. The subject was new to me, but it gave me considerable pleasure – following an existing style allowed me to relax, although at times attempts to reproduce another person's painting method became a challenge for me. Developments in computer graphics made the task easier. I could afford digital placement of colours. In choosing the colour palette, the key was not only the analysis of Willmann's own painting, but also Rubens and Rembrandt. Nevertheless, reproducing the artist's colouring was the most difficult for me, because of my own painting style based on a specific colouring.”

Nikola Siwik, project participant: “Browsing books, documents listing lost works and looking at works in museums, I sought a challenge, an interesting composition that would capture my attention. When I chose mezzotint as the technique for the print, I was aware that it was a great challenge; the long and demanding process, however, became a form of meditation, and while creating each successive plate I marvelled at the craft of the image, whose details slowly emerged in the copper plates.”

Dr hab. Piotr Oszczanowski, Director of the National Museum in Wrocław: “When a young artist still in training – living in such an incredibly dynamic world, subjected to countless stimuli and often following fleeting fashions – finds time to engage with the work of a painter who lived more than 300 years ago, it must inspire sincere admiration. And when the artist admired is Michael Willmann, the most outstanding Silesian painter, that recognition is all the greater. Trying to understand a Baroque painter is incredibly difficult, and experiencing the emotion of reproducing his compositions is something special. And when the subject of the work is a lost piece, known only from an imperfect reproduction, one can truly speak of no small challenge. I am grateful…”