Black and White

The Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow, Poland’s oldest art school, was founded in 1818. Recalling last year’s bicentenary of the institution, the Main Building of the National Museum presents the exhibition Black and White. 200 Years of Drawing at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. Why drawing? “Because for many centuries drawing has been one of the foundations of artistic education and a veritable test of artists’ technical skills,” explains Agnieszka Jankowska-Marzec, curator of the exhibition, who chose the medium as a common denominator for the myriad artists, designers and art conservators who have written the academy’s history since its foundation. We will see studies, sketches, designs and sketchbooks of around forty authors from Jan Matejko and Leon Wyczółkowski to contemporary artists.