From Zachęta to the Bydgoszcz Salons. Art in Bydgoszcz 1920–1939

The exhibition will explore the history of the Bydgoszcz art community of the interwar period, a time when the city, after Poland regained independence, was redefining its place on the country’s cultural and artistic map.

Bydgoszcz in the 1920s and 1930s was a place of intense social, economic and also cultural change. As the city developed, an artistic community took shape, made up of artists born in Bydgoszcz as well as creators arriving from other parts of Poland and from beyond its borders.

The exhibition “From Zachęta to the Bydgoszcz Salons” tells this process through works of art and documentary materials. The display includes painting, sculpture, graphic art and drawing, as well as stage design and applied art, including commercial graphics and furniture design. A special place is given to works by artists who helped shape the artistic image of interwar Bydgoszcz – among them Leon Dołżycki, Jerzy Rupniewski, Marian Turwid, Piotr Triebler, Teodor Gajewski, Stanisław Brzęczkowski and Stefan Szmaj. Alongside works by well-known creators, visitors will also see works by artists who are less remembered today, such as sculptor Kazimierz Lipiński.

– This exhibition is not merely a presentation of works created in Bydgoszcz in 1920–1939. It is an attempt to reconstruct the artistic world shaped by people, institutions, associations, exhibitions and creative circles. What interests me most is the dynamics of this community, its diversity, its mutual relations, and the place Bydgoszcz occupied at that time on the artistic map of Poland – says Dr Barbara Chojnacka, curator of the exhibition and head of the Graphic Arts Department of the Leon Wyczółkowski District Museum in Bydgoszcz.

The exhibition refers to the first monographic exhibition devoted to the interwar Bydgoszcz art community, prepared at the Museum in 2002. Over two decades later, returning to this subject allows us to look at it from a new perspective. The current exhibition is based on the latest research results of Dr Barbara Chojnacka, contained in two publications: “Życie artystyczne w Bydgoszczy w latach 1920-1939” and “Środowisko artystyczne Bydgoszczy w latach 1920-1939. Twórcy i dzieła”. These monographs made it possible not only to organise knowledge about artists associated with Bydgoszcz, but also to restore the memory of artists and phenomena that for years remained on the margins of art history.

– From Zachęta to the Bydgoszcz Salons. Art in Bydgoszcz 1920–1939” will therefore be not only a story about works and their creators. It is also an attempt to restore a fuller picture of a city whose artistic life in the interwar period was far more diverse and dynamic than today’s memory of that time might suggest – emphasises Dr Anna Kornelia Jędrzejewska, director of the Leon Wyczółkowski District Museum in Bydgoszcz.

The foundation of the exhibition is the works from the collections of the Leon Wyczółkowski District Museum in Bydgoszcz. They will be complemented by objects loaned from Polish museums and libraries, as well as parishes, collectors and private individuals. As a result, the exhibition will bring together works that for years remained dispersed across different collections.

An important element of the project will be the exhibition catalogue, which develops the presented narrative and documents the gathered objects. The exhibition will also be accompanied by a scholarly session devoted to the art of Bydgoszcz and the Kuyavian-Pomeranian region in the interwar period. Its topics will include, among others, the connections between the local art community and Polish and European art of that time. These events are part of the celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Museum being named after Leon Wyczółkowski and the 90th anniversary of the artist’s death.

The exhibition will be presented at the Gallery of Modern Art from 15 October 2026 to 14 February 2027.

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• opening of the exhibition: 15 October 2026, 6:00 p.m.
• curator of the exhibition: Dr Barbara Chojnacka
• exhibition design:…