National Museum in Kraków

Housed in an imposing contemporary building founded in 1934, the main branch (Gmach Glowny) of the National Museum in Kraków (Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie) features an extensive twentieth-century Polish art collection. It includes numerous paintings and sculptures by the most renowned Polish artists, such as Stanisław Wyspaiński and Włodzimierz Tetmajer. It also houses an extensive collection of Polish weaponry and decorative arts and crafts.

The National Museum of Poland has other independent departments in the city. The most-visited are Jan Matejko House, the Czartoryski Museum or the Nineteenth Century Polish Art Gallery.

Exhibitions

The museum houses three permanent exhibitions that are displayed separately:

• 20th Century Polish Art: the exhibition presents a sample of selected artistic phenomena, trends, and movements through outstanding works from the museum's contemporary art collection.
• 20th Century Polish Sculpture Art: this is a collection that serves as an extension of the exhibition that precedes it, this is a space that brings together the multifaceted history of Polish sculpture art.
• Decorative Arts and Crafts Gallery: This gallery has an excellent collection of decorative arts chronologically placed from the Middle Ages to the Art Nouveau.

For art fans

The main branch of Poland’s National Museum in Kraków is especially interesting if you like art, militaria collectibles, or decorative arts. Tourists who don’t appreciate art as much might not find this museum as stimulating.