[...] thematically and philosophically, my painting does not change at all and is always an attempt to form and transfer the image of a human and objects that are close at hand.

(Marek Żuławski)

Marek Żuławski (1908-1985) lived and painted in London from 1935. He spent his childhood in Zakopane, where the Żuławski family lived in Łada villa (designed by the creator of the Zakopane Style, Stanisław Witkiewicz) until 1920. Marek Żuławski and his brothers Juliusz and Wawrzyniec climbed a lot during their youth in Zakopane and were the first to ascend many Tatra summits. The years spent in Zakopane resulted in Marek Żuławski's ties to the Tatras and the desire for his paintings to find a place in Zakopane. A year after the artist's death, his widow Maryla Żuławska donated over 100 of his works to the Tatra Museum in Zakopane.

Marek Żuławski's work cannot be attributed to any one artistic movement of his time. Even though he performed many formal experiments and drew on his experiences of different painting styles, his paintings were executed in his own very individual manner. His centre of interest was always people, presented as individuals or symbols, a contemporary man, his everyday situations and objects (still-lifes), his human condition and perspective in the face of eternity (which deal with religious topics). Żuławski strived to transfer his observations into the language of painting.

This presentation of the artist's works from different periods shows his quest in the fields of content and form.

The exhibition is complemented by Marek Żuławski's texts, which enable the visitor to get a deeper grasp of his painting.

Helena Pitoń

Sitting Nude 1938

A Long Stroll circa 1960-1964

A Weary Man circa 1963

Sorting Fish 1958

Still-life 1976

Lying Nude with Mirror 1980