The Collection - The National Museum Gdansk - Poland

The exhibition "Collection" is an opportunity to present the extraordinary gift that the National Museum in Gdańsk received from the artist and patron of the arts, Basil Alkazzi. It consists of 140 works by 40 artists representing painting, drawing, graphics, photography and sculpture. In 2015, MNG signed an agreement with Basil Alkazzi, who established the Basil Alkazzi and Halima Nałęcz Fund, and undertook to donate to our collections the works of artists and artists active in the United States, Great Britain, Japan and South Korea. The fund refers to Halima Nałęcz - a painter and owner of Drian Galleries in London, as well as a promoter and friend of Basil Alkazzi, who in 1983 donated over 360 works by artists exhibiting in her gallery to the National Museum in Gdańsk.

The donated works constitute one of the most valuable gifts of the last decades in the history of Polish museology. They include works by contemporary classics (John Hedgecoe, David Hockney, Joe Tilson, Paul Huxley) and younger artists whom Alkazzi met during his stay in Great Britain and the United States. They are often laureates of awards he has established in both countries, such as the scholarship award established at the Royal College of Art in London or The Basil H. Alkazzi Award in the USA.

The selection of works donated to our Museum is undoubtedly marked by the individuality of the donor, who appreciates traditional aesthetics, affirms a sensitive talent, good technique and a wealth of imagination. Basil Alkazzi also gave us his paintings - oil compositions, gouaches, photo montages, including those made during the pandemic in 2020. All the donated works present a rich spectrum of formal and iconographic solutions and are a great opportunity to learn about various trends in the art of the 20th and 21st centuries in the United States, Great Britain and other countries. These works are the property of MNG.

Artists whose works are part of the donated collection:

BASIL ALKAZZI, RAY ATKINS, SANDOW BIRK, ELIZABETH BLACKADDER, SERENA BOCCHINO, JUDITH K. BRODSKY, MATTHEW BURROWS, JEFFERY CAMP, MYOUNG-CHEUL CHUNG, LES CHRISTENSEN, DOMINIC CLEMENCE, THOMRALAMOLE, THOMRALAMOLE, THOMRALAMENCE, THOMRALAMENCE, THOMRALAMENCE, THOMRALAYENCE, THOMRALAMOLENCE, THOMRALAMOLE, THOMRALAMOLE FRINK, RICHARD GALLOWAY, JOHN HEDGECOE, DAVID HOCKNEY, JOHN HOUSTON, PAUL HUXLEY, LUCY JONES, KAREN KITCHEL, SIMON LARBALESTIER, CHRISTOPHER ORR, MASAAKI OHYA, MARK PODWAL, DAVID RAYSON, DAVID RAYSON, TAVID RAYSON, DAVID RAYSBA JOSHUA WF THOMSON, STEPHEN THORPE, SADIE TIERNEY, JOE TILSON, CECILIA VARGAS, SIMON WILLEMS, JOASH WOODROW, ISABEL YOUNG