Antoni Michalak (1902-1975) was one of the most original creators of Polish religious art of the 20th century, an outstanding draughtsman, careful portraitist and educator. He was a member of the Brotherhood of St Luke - a group of graduates of Tadeusz Pruszkowski's studio at the Warsaw School of Fine Arts (later the Academy of Fine Arts). Their works drew on iconographic patterns and early painting techniques and were distinguished by their attention to the subject of the work. At the same time, they were close to modern art trends such as art déco, colourism or cubism, which connected the Lukas with the German Neue Sachlichkeit and the Vilnius School.

Among other things, the Brotherhood of St Luke produced seven famous historical paintings for the 1939 World Exhibition in New York (they were brought back to Poland after 83 years in 2022 and are now in the collection of the Museum of Polish History in Warsaw). Antoni Michalak was also an important figure in the art colony in Kazimierz Dolny, where his home was located from 1929, where he lived until his death.

In our exhibition, we want to show different threads of the artist's life and work, which, we hope, will allow us to get closer to the mystery of this artist, who escapes stereotypes and cannot be enclosed in the usual schemes. Visitors will follow Michalak from his years of education in the studios of Miłosz Kotarbiński, Konrad Krzyżanowski and Tadeusz Pruszkowski, through his scholarship stay in Paris, his time in Kazimierz Dolny, the time of public commissions and his 'portrait company', to the post-war years. The exhibition will show around ninety of Michalak's works - religious paintings, portraits, allegorical scenes, landscapes, preparatory sketches, designs for stained glass, frescoes and sculptures. The artist's works will be accompanied by such rarities as the Catalogue of the First Exhibition of the Brotherhood of St. Luke, a model of Kazimierz Dolny, the artist's painting accessories or unknown, unique archival photographs.

We also want to introduce the artist's workshop practices, which is why the exhibition will feature, for example, double-sided painting and author's replicas. Some of the works are being presented to the public for the first time.