Art and war seem to be mutually exclusive. This notion is reinforced by a paraphrase of Cicero’s proverb, often invoked to highlight the contrast between the ruthlessness and totality of war and the peace of mind required for artistic creation: Inter arma silent Musae—in times of war, the muses are silent. In essence, war is the antithesis of creativity; it is a destructive, total, devastating, and often senseless act. Certain types of artistic creation are incompatible with war. On the other hand, art draws from all areas of life, and even the most difficult experiences find their sublimation in artistic expression. Warfare has been a subject of art since antiquity—from the reliefs of Ancient Greece to the bas-reliefs on columns and triumphal arches of Ancient Rome, which celebrated military conquests.
Ancient sculptural representations of warriors glorified heroic attitudes in times of war. Painting, too, has long explored wartime themes, as seen in Paolo Uccello’s famous Renaissance work The Battle of San Romano and Francisco Goya’s iconic series of prints The Disasters of War.
Suchodolski, January "Defense of Częstochowa"Polish secular painting, which dates back to the Renaissance, also begins with a battle scene: The Battle of Orsha (ca. 1525), painted by an anonymous court painter of King Sigismund the Old. Perhaps the most iconic work in Polish secular art is Jan Matejko’s The Battle of Grunwald. Similarly, the art collection of the Józef Piłsudski Institute in New York features, alongside landscapes, portraits, and genre scenes, a number of works devoted to battle themes.
This theme begins with January Suchodolski’s Defense of Częstochowa, one of the oldest paintings in the Institute’s collection, dating from the mid-19th century. The painting is unsigned and undated; it is likely an authorial copy of Suchodolski’s monumental painting housed at the National Museum in Kraków. The artist is particularly known for his battle scenes. In addition to being a painter, he was also an officer, a graduate of the Cadet School, and a participant in the November Uprising. He skillfully combined his artistic talent with the discipline and resilience he developed during 18 years of military service.
Kossak, Wojciech "Skirmish"
The scene in the painting refers to the Swedish Deluge and the heroic defense of the monastery at Jasna Góra in 1655—a turning point in the defense of the Polish state against the Swedish invasion. At the center is Augustyn Kordecki, the prior of the Pauline monastery and the commander of the defense. This event solidified the symbolic role of the miraculous image of Our Lady of Częstochowa in the Polish national consciousness. A year later, King John II Casimir took the Lviv Oath, placing the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth under the protection of the Virgin Mary, whom he declared Queen of the Polish Crown. Visually, this primacy of the Virgin is emphasized by the Marian banner held by the defenders, towering above the entire composition.
The theme continues with Skirmish by Wojciech Kossak, which refers to the November Uprising. It depicts a clash between Polish uhlans and Russian forces. The
Kossak, Wojciech "Pilsudski on horseback" painting showcases the Kossak family’s hallmark depiction of horses—full of movement, intensity, and dramatic energy. In contrast, the same artist portrays Józef Piłsudski on his horse, Kasztanka, in a more majestic and static pose. Both scenes are set in the quintessential Polish landscape of fields and forests, imbuing them with a sense of solemnity. The portrait of Piłsudski, created in 1928—after the May Coup—serves as a visual homage to the leader of the nation, evoking the longstanding tradition of depicting Polish identity through the image of a rider on horseback.
The final painting discussed from the Institute’s collection presents a powerful scene from the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Zdzisław Czermański’s expressionist composition shows a group of men with rifles on the streets of Warsaw. The insurgents, standing heroically, are marching toward almost certain death, resisting the German machinery of dehumanization and contempt that characterized the Nazi occupation of Poland during World War II. Czermański, an active member of the Polish-American community and closely associated with the Institute, used his art during the war to support the Polish cause. Notably, one of the fighters in the painting wears a white-and-red armband, symbolically linking the fates of Poles and Jews during the shared suffering and destruction of Warsaw under German occupation.
These few battle-themed paintings reflect core motifs of the Polish national imagination. The Defense of Częstochowahighlights the essentially defensive nature of Polish military actions while underscoring the central role of the Virgin Mary in national symbolism. Kossak’s works embody the Polish spirit through the majesty and vigor of the cavalry. Finally, Czermański adds a tragic and heroic dimension, emphasizing the intertwined destinies of Poles and Jews. The theme of art and war in the Institute’s collection also powerfully reflects the broader mission of the Institute itself: the preservation of priceless archival resources connected to the struggle for Polish identity, culture, and the enduring spirit of the Polish people—a struggle carried out not only on the battlefield but also through literature, art, and culture at large.
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