Art student hangs own painting in Poland's National Museum

A struggling art student managed to secretly hang one of his paintings in a major Polish gallery where it spent three days before anyone noticed. Andrzej Sobiepan waited until security guards were not watching before putting it on the wall in in a room with contemporary Polish art at the National Museum in the city of Wroclaw.

After it was discovered he said he hoped galleries would give more exhibition space to young artists as a result. "I decided that I will not wait 30 or 40 years for my works to appear at a place like this," he said. "I want to benefit from them in the here and now."


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Mr Sobiepan, a Wroclaw Fine Arts Academy student said he was inspired by the elusive British graffiti artist Banksy. His own painting is small, white and green, and partly uses swine leather to show a drooping acacia leaf.

Museum director Mariusz Hermansdorfer said the issue revealed some security breaches, but that he also considered it a "witty artistic happening. It has shown that the young generation of artists, unlike their predecessors, wants to see their works in museums," he said. The museum has kept the painting on display - in its cafe. It will be offered for sale at Poland's biggest charity auction on Sunday.