According to the museum's director, Andrzej Szczerski, this is "a very good result considering that the pandemic restrictions continued to be in force until the end of spring."
In a statement for the media, he attributed the year’s "popular success" to the opening of a new permanent exhibition as well as to several temporary events that have proved major crowd-pulling attractions.
These have included the exhibition A New Beginning: Modernist Art in the Second Polish Republic, and shows focusing on the art of Jacek Malczewski (1854-1929) and Tamara Łempicka (1898-1980).
The latter exhibition, which runs until March 12, 2023, brings together about 40 works by a leading figure of the Art Déco style in Polish painting on loan from several museums and private collections in European countries and the United States.
Founded 143 years ago, the National Museum in Kraków is the oldest and largest Polish museum with the label "national" in its name. At the end of last year, its collection numbered 1,175,000 items.
This weekend, the museum offers a wide range of special events, with the tickets costing PLN 5 (EUR 1, USD 1) to mark its anniversary.
(mk/gs)