Muzeum Narodowe

Well, it’s about time I visited.
With countless previous trips to Warsaw, how I’ve not gone to the Muzeum Narodowy until now seriously escapes me.
Since I was on a time constraint, I only spent less than 2 hours here. But I arrived with a mission: to see Matejko.
Colorful. Detailed. Imaginative. Historical. Patriotic. Impressive. A few words that come to mind when I see his works. Jan Matejko’s paintings were intended to incite patriotism within his fellow countrymen during a time when Poles had lost national sovereignty with themes of historic significance exemplifying the unwavering love of country in success and defeat. He is most famous for his painting of the Battle of Grunwald.
And wait til you see how enormous it is!
In addition to the Gallery of 19^th Century Art where Matejko is housed, I find the Gallery of Medieval Art to be a unique permanent exhibition. Most of the articles found here were designed with an ecclesiastical purpose in mind.
The remaining majority of the museum appears sparse and leaves much to be desired. The overall flow and lack of focus in the galleries, I believe, can be improved by reorganizing the exhibits. It’s known that there are many interesting articles stored in the museum’s vaults that are not presented due to lack of space and vision.
Closed Mondays. Admission Tuesdays for permanent galleries is FREE! Regular admission price is 15zł, students are 10zł. Guided tours in English are 150zł.

Centrally located, the National Museum is easy to get to. Comparing with some of the other museums I’ve been too, this one has a rather small collection on display. I also seem to remember that the National museum in Wrocław had a much more extensive collection that included a lot more furniture and other artifacts. Here the primary pieces on display are paintings and some sculptures. Even so, there was a nice assortment. I mostly appreciate seeing the work of Polish artists through the various periods of history. It wasn’t all Italian and French!
I only had a couple of hours to spend, so I paid for a permanent gallery ticket. It was 2ish in the afternoon on a Wednesday, and the museum was relatively quiet — only a few patrons. Later on the traffic seemed to pick up.
The gift shop upstairs is nice. They have many books and some «made in Poland» artsy souvenirs. I managed to get out with only a cool Warsaw magnet and a few postcards I’ve been meaning to buy and send before my trip here comes to an end.

Malgré l’aspect lugubre qu’offre l’entrée, ce musée est réputé pour être l’un des meilleurs musées d’art de Pologne.
Le billet est à moins de 10 €, il y a un vestiaire gratuit et on peut prendre des photos sans flash.
L’entrée, affreuse, laisse place à de grandes pièces où l’on peut voir, sur plusieurs niveaux, des portraits médiévaux polonais, des peintures flamandes, de beaux paysages d’Europe et d’ailleurs, des sculptures contemporaine ou non. Très grand catalogue avec du Botticelli, Caravage, Rembrandt ou encore Rodin.
Si il y une chose que vous devez absolument voir, c’est la partie avec les portraits réalisés par Bartholomeus van der Helst autours de 1660… C’est magnifique, hyper réaliste et les regards des modèles sont poignants. Impressionnant et sublime.

Somewhat grim exterior. The Rothko exhibition was quite nice. You won’t find a lot of the «greatest hits» here (dutch masters, Picasso, etc.). You will be exposed to some interesting Polish artists. Also, there’s a small collection of subversive communist era art. The Lego concentration camp is worth the prices of admission alone. It would be cool if more of the museum was actually devoted to art from the iron curtain era. From what is seen, the Poles really cranked out some compelling stuff.
High points are Jan Matejko’s «Stańczyk» (a sad jester) and a painting of Princess Leia. I’m pretty sure it’s her. Maybe not.
The gift shop has a lot of cool stuff.

very nice

Le plus grand musée d’Art (pictural, décoratifs…) de Pologne. Plus de 780 000 objets répartis sur plusieurs niveaux !
Au rez de chausée, l’art médiéval polonais, de magnifiques fresques coptes du VIIIème siècle trouvées en Nubie, mais aussi des peintures flamandes du XVIème et de nombreux objers décoratifs polonais (retables, pièces d’orfèvre…).
Aux étages, la peinture polonaise essentiellement: A NE PAS MANQUER! De très célèbres toiles des maîtres polonais (Majteko, Pankiewicz, Malczewski, Mehoffer…). Mais aussi des peintures plus modernes (Tadeusz Kantor, Maria Jarema…). Ce musée est une très bonne approche de la vision et de la peinture slave et par la même de l’histoire polonaise mouvementée.
A Noter: Le musée organise de grandes expositions temporaires. Exemple pour la saison été 2007, une retrospective Hector Mucha… Superbe!!!