Exhibition: 20th Century Art Gallery

The exhibition "20th Century Art Gallery. Uncovering the Collection 1945-1955" is an ongoing exhibition at the National Museum in Warsaw, which will be on display until the end of 2008. The exhibition presents just a fraction of the wealth of the contemporary art collection in the holdings of the National Museum, as it focuses on a dynamic decade of Polish art, and is part of a series of exhibitions titled "Uncovering the Collection." The present show highlights the most precious specimens of Polish art from 1945–55 in the museum's collection, including works by Andrzej Wroblewski, Wladyslaw Strzeminski, the Capist group, as well as pottery by Pablo Picasso, which was donated to the museum during the artist's visit to Poland in 1948. Works in the socialist realism style, declared the only officially allowed style in 1949, make up a whole room of the collection, with pieces which were awarded prizes at the State Annual Art Exhibitions. However, a large segment of the works from 1950-55 show a trend of overcoming the doctrine of socialist realism, leading to original and avant garde works from the era.