Summer 2025 will see 100 masterpieces from the collection of the National Museum in Warsaw go on display in Lausanne, Switzerland. This special exhibition presents a unique panorama of Polish art from the 19th century and the first quarter of the 20th century – the period when Polish artistic creativity flourished most. The exhibition La Pologne rêvée. 100 chefs-d’oeuvre du musée national de Varsovie (“Dream of Poland. 100 masterpieces from the National Museum in Warsaw”) will be on display at the Fondation de l’Hermitage from 27 June to 9 November 2025. The Adam Mickiewicz Institute cooperated in promotion of exhibition and organization of accompanying programme of events.
Artistic resistance and European dialogue – the masters who told the story of Poland
A colourful and multidimensional world of Polish art from 1840 to 1914 is on display at the Fondation de l’Hermitage. The 19th century was a crucial period in the history of Poland, after the country was partitioned and came under the rule of Russia, Austria and Prussia. During this difficult time, artists, writers and musicians made extraordinary efforts to preserve their national identity, language, traditions and cultural heritage. The artistic resistance gave rise to works depicting medieval Poland, great monarchs, native landscapes, village life, folklore and myths. At the same time, the lack of a national academy of fine arts meant that many Polish painters studied abroad – in Munich, Paris and St Petersburg – taking an active part in the European artistic debates of the 19th century.
The exhibition brings together more than 100 iconic works by the most outstanding Polish painters of the 19th century and the first quarter of the 20th century. It showcases the rich history of Polish art through the lens of the main trends of the era: Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism, Symbolism and Modernism. This is a unique opportunity to discover the treasures of Polish art and trace the aesthetic explorations of the bold artists who helped lay the foundations of contemporary Polish culture.
Twelve stories across four levels at the Fondation de l’Hermitage
The exhibition “Dream of Poland. 100 masterpieces from the National Museum in Warsaw” is organised around twelve thematic sections spread across four levels of the Fondation de l’Hermitage. The ground floor presents the sections Soul of the Nation, History and Imagery, and Slavic Magic, showing how art was used to build a narrative of national identity and create cultural mythology. The first floor is devoted to landscape and its symbolic meanings, with sections such as Light in Landscape, Mountains and Snow, and Symbolism of Nature. The second floor focuses on personal and emotional spaces, presenting the section Portraits and Interiors. The underground section features themes related to folk life and spirituality: Peasants and the Land, Vision and Faith, a monographic presentation dedicated to Jacek Malczewski (1854–1929), as well as two sections on the influence of popular culture: Fascination with Folk Culture and Popular Culture and Modernity. This layout of the exhibition reflects the multidimensional nature of Polish art at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries – from painterly visions of history and nature to symbolic explorations and dialogue with modernity.
The exhibition is an invitation to a spiritual journey – through colours, forms and stories that shaped the collective imagination and artistic identity of Poland for decades. To give the Swiss audience a better understanding of the phenomenon of Polish painting, the organisers have prepared a rich programme of accompanying events: art workshops for children and adults, lectures, meetings, curator tours and a special menu inspired by Polish cuisine. Detailed information is available at fondation-hermitage.ch.
The exhibition “La Pologne rêvée. 100 chefs-d’oeuvre du musée national de Varsovie” – the history of Polish art in more than 100 works
- Dates: 27 June – 9 November 2025
- Opening hours: Tuesday–Sunday: 10:00 am – 6:00 pm, Thursday: 10:00 am – 9:00 pm
- Artists featured in the exhibition: Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Teodor Axentowicz, Wacław Borowski, Olga Boznańska, Józef Brandt, Julian Fałat, Stefan Filipkiewicz, Stanisław Gałek, Wojciech Gerson, Aleksander Gierymski, Maksymilian Gierymski, Vlastimil Hofman, Władysław Jarocki, Antoni Kozakiewicz, Michalina Krzyżanowska, Konrad Krzyżanowski, Ludwik de Laveaux, Stanisław Lentz, Jacek Malczewski, Stanisław Masłowski, Jan Matejko, Józef Mehoffer, Edward Okuń, Józef Pankiewicz, Fryderyk Pautsch, Władysław Podkowiński, Zbigniew Pronaszko, Witold Pruszkowski, Ferdynand Ruszczyc, Kazimierz Sichulski, Alfred Józef Sipiński, Władysław Ślewiński, Kazimierz Stabrowski, Jan Stanisławski, Zofia Stryjeńska, Henryk Szczygliński, Włodzimierz Tetmajer, Marian Wawrzeniecki, Wojciech Weiss, Henryk Weyssenhoff, Stanisław Witkiewicz, Witold Wojtkiewicz, Leon Wyczółkowski, Stanisław Wyspiański.
- Curators: Agnieszka Lajus (General Manager of the National Museum in Warsaw), Agnieszka Bagińska (Curator of pre-1914 Polish painting at the National Museum in Warsaw), Corinne Currat (Fondation de l’Hermitage), Aurelie Couvreur (Fondation de l’Hermitage)
- Organised by: Fondation de l’Hermitage
- Partners: National Museum in Warsaw, Adam Mickiewicz Institute