Collection

Broniewski is one of the important paintings by Wilhelm Sasnal that cemented his position as the ‘youngest of Polish historical painters’. Sasnal has a penchant for grim and painful subjects, ambiguous issues. And so is the figure of Władysław Broniewski, an author of revolutionary pre-war poems and political-propagandist post-war poetry. The portrait was inspired by the artist’s official, heroic-style representations. Sasnal deals here with the issue of the artist’s political involvement – here we have a phenomenally talented poet who puts his talent at the service of communist propaganda, in a way undermining his earlier achievements. The piece was shown in the 2005 Galeria Raster exhibition Broniewski that was an attempt to ‘disenchant’ the poet’s image.