29th May 6-7:15pm, FREE, Polish Embassy London, 47 Portland Place London W1B 1JH

12th June, 6-7.15pm, FREE, Polish Embassy London, 47 Portland Place London W1B 1JH

19th June, 6-7.15pm, FREE, Polish Embassy London, 47 Portland Place London W1B 1JH

The Embassy of the Republic of Poland in London invites you to a series of lectures on Polish Japonisme!   Led by Piotr Spławski PhD, they will take place every two weeks from the 29th of May to the 19th of June.

Inspiration taken from Japanese sources triggered a wave of new visual and conceptual languages in Poland in the late 19th and early 20th century: Polish Japonisme.

It was a movement that defined modern art and manifested itself in the form of portraiture, still life, landscape, representations of flora and fauna, erotic imagery, and caricature.

Piotr Spławski is an independent art historian specialising in Japanese art and Japonisme. His research concentrates on Poland, the USA, and, most recently, the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. He obtained a PhD in art history from the Chelsea College of Art and Design, University of the Arts London, where he pursued an inquiry into Japonisme in Polish Pictorial Arts (1885-1939).

The event will take place in the large Japan-inspired reception room at the Embassy which was decorated in this style during the 1920s. Although exemplifying some traditional symbolism of the region’s architecture, the general inspiration behind the room remains a mystery to this day.

Join the Embassy on 29th May for the first lecture in the series: “Transposed from Afar yet Homegrown: An Introduction to Polish Japonisme.” 

Please use the Weymouth Street entrance. Bring your ID and prepare for an airport-style security check. For this reason, try not to bring big bags and luggage.

Free registration via Eventbrite using the link below

Transposed from Afar yet Homegrown: An Introduction to Polish Japonisme Tickets, Wed, May 15, 2024 at 6:00 PM | Eventbrite

The following Two Lectures in the Series will take place on the 12th June and the 19th June, links and titles of these lectures can be found below:

12th June – A Feminine Agency: The Woman as a Force Behind Japonisme in Poland

FREE Tickets: A Feminine Agency: The Woman as a Force Behind Japonisme in Poland Tickets, Wed, Jun 12, 2024 at 6:00 PM | Eventbrite

19th June – A Lifelong Affair: Leon Wyczółkowski as the Giant of European Japonisme

FREE Tickets: A Lifelong Affair: Leon Wyczółkowski as the Giant of European Japonisme Tickets, Wed, Jun 19, 2024 at 6:00 PM | Eventbrite