When is the Maria Jarema exhibition at Lenbachhaus open?

The exhibition opens on October 27, 2026, from 10 AM to 6 PM. Lenbachhaus is regularly open from Tuesday to Sunday and on holidays from 10 AM to 6 PM, and Thursdays until 8 PM.

How much does the admission cost?

The regular admission to Lenbachhaus is 10 euros. The reduced admission is 6 euros.

Are there guided tours for the exhibition?

Yes, Lenbachhaus offers public guided tours and other educational offerings for the Maria Jarema exhibition. Dates and booking options can be found in the museum's event calendar.

Which works will be on display?

Works from all phases of Maria Jarema's career will be shown, including paintings, monotypes, sculptures, and costumes.

Where does the exhibition take place?

The exhibition takes place at Lenbachhaus Munich at Luisenstraße 33, 80333 Munich.

Is the exhibition suitable for art-historical contemplation?

Yes, the exhibition offers diverse access points to abstract art, Polish modernity, theatrical art, sculpture, printmaking, and cultural education.

Discover Maria Jarema: Abstract Art, Theater, and Revolutionary Forms at Lenbachhaus Munich

Name: Maria Jarema
Start: 2026-10-27T10:00:00+01:00
End: 2026-10-27T18:00:00+01:00
Location: Lenbachhaus München

Maria Jarema at Lenbachhaus: Revolutionary Abstraction from Krakow

On October 27, 2026, the first comprehensive monographic exhibition in Germany about Maria Jarema will open at Lenbachhaus Munich. The Polish painter, sculptor, printmaker, and scenic designer combined abstract forms with political thought, physical expressiveness, and a deep connection to theater.

A significant artist of Polish modernity

Maria Jarema lived from 1908 to 1958 and shaped the avant-garde art scene in Krakow. As early as 1932, she was one of the co-founders of the Krakow Group, which opposed nationalist tendencies at the art academy. Her art arose from the tension between social responsibility, artistic freedom, and the search for a new visual language.

Jarema's work cannot be reduced to a single artistic movement. Influences of surrealism, international abstraction, and European modernity blend with a unique, rhythmically dynamic language of form. The art of the Blue Rider was also familiar to her. Her picture surfaces appear as dynamic spaces of confrontation, where forms meet, penetrate each other, and connect to open visual narratives.

Painting, Monotype, Sculpture, and Theater

The exhibition gathers works from all phases of her career. Numerous paintings, monotypes, sculptures, and costumes will be on display. Works like Teatr, Penetracje I, Chwyt, Rytm IX, and Wyrazy demonstrate how Jarema translated movement, rhythm, and physical presence into abstract compositions.

Her long-standing work for theater broadened her understanding of image and sculpture. Along with her brother Józef Jarema, she was active in the experimental theater group Cricot. Later, she co-founded Cricot 2 with Kazimierz Mikulski and Tadeusz Kantor. Set design, costumes, acting, and visual arts merged into a total work of art.

Aesthetic experience between rhythm and movement

Jarema's compositions unfold a special exhibition atmosphere. Lines, color surfaces, and organic forms act like traces of choreographed movement. The contemplation of the works leads from the closed picture surface into an open space of thought, where painting appears physical, temporal, and almost theatrical.

It is precisely this connection of materiality, form, and movement that makes the artistic experience at Lenbachhaus particularly compelling. Monotypes reveal the print as a creative act, while sculptures and costumes mark the transition between image, body, and stage. The aesthetic experience thus is not purely visual, but also appeals to spatial perception, memory, and imagination.

Cultural education and curatorial perspective

The exhibition is curated by Stephanie Weber at Lenbachhaus and is created in cooperation with the Muzeum Sztuki Nowoczesnej w Warszawie. The original curatorial concept Maria Jarema: Cracked Modernism comes from Éric de Chassey and Natalia Sielewicz. Guided tours and educational offerings provide additional access to Jarema's biography, her art theory, and her significance for the Polish post-war avant-garde.

Maria Jarema understood art as a revolutionary practice: not merely a political instrument, but a way to change perception and get societal thinking moving. This attitude makes her works relevant even today.

Conclusion: A discovery of European avant-garde

The exhibition Maria Jarema at Lenbachhaus promises a concentrated encounter with an extraordinary voice of Polish modernity. Visitors can expect a multifaceted artistic experience of painting, sculpture, printmaking, theater, and cultural history. Anyone wanting to discover abstract art as a physical, political, and poetic experience should not miss this exhibition in Munich.