The 1908 painting, unseen in public for almost a century, was conditionally sold in December 2022 for more than PLN 20 million ($5.3 million) before officials froze the deal over suspicions it had once been taken abroad illegally. A Warsaw court confirmed in February that no offence had occurred, and the work was returned to DESA in March after the National Museum waived its right of first refusal.
“After more than two years, we can again show this masterpiece to a wide audience and confirm the transparency of our actions,” DESA supervisory-board chairman Juliusz Windorbski said in a statement.
Painted at the height of Malczewski’s career, the densely allegorical scene depicts the artist himself amid figures symbolizing Poland’s 19th-century uprisings and national myths.
“In a baroque composition he addressed the artist’s mission and the fall of the Commonwealth,” art historian Agata Szkup noted, calling it one of the most important Polish pictures of the 20th century.
Lost after 1926, the canvas surfaced decades later from a Polish-German family collection in Germany. It will headline the free exhibition “Jacek Malczewski and His Era” at DESA Unicum’s Warsaw gallery from 30 May to 12 June, alongside works by Józef Mehoffer, Włodzimierz Tetmajer and others.
Interest in Malczewski remains robust: his Self-Portrait with a Skull fetched PLN 4.2 million last year, an auction record for one of his self-portraits.
(jh)
Source: PAP