Society of Polish Artists "Sztuka"

The Society of Polish Artists "Sztuka" (Polish: Towarzystwo Artystów Polskich "Sztuka"; Sztuka means Art in Polish, artyzm means artistic abilities) founded in 1897 in Kraków, was a gathering of prominent Polish visual artists from around the turn of the century (or fin-de-siècle era) living under the foreign partitions of Poland. Its main goal was to reaffirm the importance and unique character of Polish contemporary art at a time, when Poland could not exist as sovereign nation.

The immediate inspiration for the founding of the new society came from the ground-breaking art exhibit inaugurated on May 27, 1897, at Sukiennice in Main Square, Kraków. It was held by Polish modernist painters, and called A Separate Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture (Wystawa osobna obrazów i rzeźb). The show was visited by approximately 6,000 guests, and proclaimed a success. The first meeting of Sztuka Society took place on October 27, 1897. Among its founding members were a generation of academics from the School of Fine Arts who also participated in the show, including future Rectors of the academy: Leon Wyczółkowski, Teodor Axentowicz, Jacek Malczewski, Józef Mehoffer; as well as artists Józef Chełmoński, Julian Fałat, Antoni Piotrowski, Jan Stanisławski, Włodzimierz Tetmajer and Stanisław Wyspiański.