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Prepared on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the artist’s birth, the exhibition focuses on the work of two friends united by social sensitivity and inspiration drawn from leftist ideas. The artists portrayed marginalized individuals: the poor, the overworked, migrants, people with disabilities, and representatives of social minorities. Their works are distinguished by empathy and an attempt to understand otherness—an attitude rarely encountered in the art of that time.

The exhibition will present over a dozen works—oil paintings, watercolors, woodcuts, and drawings—showcasing the full spectrum of media used by the artists. A special feature of the opening will be a reading of newly discovered letters from Mela Muter to Leopold Gottlieb, performed by actress Katarzyna Loranc, offering visitors deeper insight into the artists’ relationship and the context of their work.

Collaboration: Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, Wejman Gallery
Honorary patronage: POLONIKA Institute

Leopold Gottlieb was born on June 3, 1879, in Drohobycz and died on April 24, 1934, in Paris. He was a Polish painter and draftsman, the younger brother of painter Maurycy Gottlieb (1856–1879), a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, and co-founder (together with Witold Wojtkiewicz) of the Group of Five. A soldier and documentarian of the Polish Legions, he later promoted their role in Poland’s regaining independence. A Polish patriot, he lived most of his life in France and was actively involved in Vienna and Parisian artistic circles, while maintaining close ties with Polish associations, including the Warsaw-based “Rytm” and the Kraków “Formists.”

Gottlieb was an artist for whom borders between countries and cultures, as well as stylistic and social limitations, did not exist. Throughout his life, constantly traveling in pursuit of artistic development, he exhibited his works worldwide—from Lviv, Kraków, and Warsaw, through Vienna, Berlin, and Paris, to Pittsburgh. He was friends with artists who met at the Café La Rotonde—the artistic hub of Europe at the time—within the École de Paris circle, and he co-created the international Parisian bohemia. His art, rooted in Polish modernism and symbolism, evolved toward a refined form presenting a synthesis of human existence, characterized by a melancholic aura around delicately outlined figures, rhythmic composition, and subtle color palettes limited to shades of pink, blue, and brown. Particularly after experiencing the tragedies of World War I, his work increasingly addressed themes of the human condition, one’s place in society, working conditions, and exclusion.

Mela Muter (born Maria Melania Mutermilch) was born on April 26, 1876, in Warsaw and died on May 14, 1967, in Paris. The project coincides with the 150th anniversary of her birth in 2026. She came from the affluent Jewish Klingsland family, known for its cultural interests and commitment to Polish independence traditions. Her father, Fabian, was a Warsaw entrepreneur who supported artists and writers, including Leopold Staff, Jan Kasprowicz, and Władysław Reymont. In 1899, she studied at the School of Drawing and Painting for Women run by Miłosz Kotarbiński in Warsaw. In 1901, she moved to Paris to further develop her career, where she remained for the rest of her life.

Art history places Muter within the École de Paris, yet she eludes all affiliations and classifications. She achieved her greatest fame in the 1920s as a portraitist of prominent figures of the time—musicians, politicians, writers, including Nobel laureates. She was described as a psychological portraitist because of her ability to reveal the truth about her subjects. She disliked this label and even disagreed with it, emphasizing instead another aspect: she only portrayed those willing to collaborate sincerely with her “through their intellectual and spiritual depth.” Alongside famous figures, she also depicted people from the margins of society. Her later years were marked by personal tragedies. Art helped her endure the deaths of her parents, her only child, friends, and her beloved Raymond Lefebvre. During World War II, she had to go into hiding in Avignon. Always sensitive to the needs of others, she continued to help those in need even after the war, often forgetting her own difficult circumstances, including financial hardship.