Tadeusz Wański was one of the leading representatives of Polish pictorialism. Born in 1894 in Sroda Wielkopolska, Wański became interested in photography only as an adult, reaching thirty. However, he quickly developed his above-average talent, already a year after the first photographic search began, gaining a bronze medal at the 1st All-Photographic Exhibition “Światłocień” in Poznań in 1923. In the following years, Wański was intensively and successfully exhibiting his works, not only in Poland, but also in France, the United States or Japan. He was also an active organizer of the photographic environment, the president of the Poznań Society of Photography Enthusiasts and a co-creator of the Polish Photoclub.
Artist previously associated with Poznan, in 1938 he lived in Gdynia, where he lived until his death in 1958, in addition to photography, he also dealt with running a coffee and tea trading company founded by him. At the time, he created many beautiful paintings of Gdynia, Gdańsk and Sopot, but above all he photographed the surrounding landscapes. As Jerzy’s son, Jerzy, Tadeusz Wański’s favorite plein is mentioned, there were moraine hills near Gdynia’s Forest Plots and Grabówka. The landscape was in general the mainstream of his work, and he was looking for picturesque motifs not only in Poland, but also in Yugoslavia, to which he traveled in the 1930s, a beautiful record being the cycle presented at our exhibition.
This is the second monographic exhibition of the work of an outstanding photographer at the Museum of the City of Gdynia and probably not the last one. Tadeusz Wański is undoubtedly one of the most important artists associated with Gdynia in the 20th century. At the exhibition, we present over 40 atmospheric photographs from family collections belonging to the son of the artist Jerzy Wański.
Vernissage: Friday, 1 December 2017, 6:00 PM
The duration of the exhibition: December 2, 2017 – March 4, 2018.
Place: Museum of the City of Gdynia, ul. Zawiszy Czarnego 1, Gdynia
Admission to the opening of the exhibition is free.