Today we celebrate 154th anniversary of Stanisław Wyspiański birth! He was a famous Polish poet, playwright, painter as well as one od the leading representatives of the Young Poland Movement. Wyspiański was one of the most outstanding and multifaceted artists of his time in Poland under the foreign partitions. He successfully joined the trends of modernism with themes of the Polish folk tradition and Romantic history. Unofficially, he came to be known as the Fourth Polish Bard (in addition to the earlier Three Bards: Adam Mickiewicz, Juliusz Słowacki, and Zygmunt Krasiński).
Stanisław Wyspiański was born to Franciszek Wyspiański and Maria Rogowska. His father, a sculptor, owned an atelier at the foot of Wawel Hill. His mother died of tuberculosis in 1876 when Stanisław was seven years old. Due to problems with alcohol, Stanisław’s father could not fulfil his parental responsibilities. Stanisław was adopted by his aunt Joanna Stankiewiczowa and her husband Kazimierz.
The Stankiewicz family belonged to the bourgeois intellectual class. In their house, Wyspiański became acquainted with painter Jan Matejko, who was a frequent visitor. Matejko soon recognized that the boy had artistic talent and gave him his first artistic guidance.
Wyspiański’s artistic output is very eclectic. Among dramas and poetry, there are views of Cracow (drawings, sketch-books, oil-paintings, pastel drawings), portraits and self-portraits, designs of stained glass windows and paintings, illustrations, graphic art, and designs for furniture and interiors, and development of Wawel.
The Stanisław Wyspiański Museum in Kraków is located in the Szołayski tenement house built in the 17th century. It is a division of the National Museum, Kraków, sometimes referred to as the Szołayski Museum. At All Saints’ Square, the Wyspiański 2000 Information Exhibition Pavilion is a rare example of contemporary architecture in the Old Town, featuring three of Wyspiański’s stained glass windows.