‘Romantic Life. Chopin, Scheffer, Delacroix, Sand’ at the Fryderyk Chopin Museum

Until 31 October 2025, the Fryderyk Chopin Museum in Warsaw is hosting a temporary exhibition entitled Romantic Life: Chopin, Scheffer, Delacroix, Sand – a story of art and music, friendship, emotion, and memory.

Its protagonists are artists who lived near each other for several years in the Nouvelle Athènes district of Paris, forming friendships and inspiring one another. At the heart of this community was the studio of the famous Romantic painter Ary Scheffer—now home to the Museum of Romantic Life. All the main figures of the exhibition gathered at the atelier on Chaptal Street: Frédéric Chopin, George Sand, Pauline Viardot, and Eugène Delacroix, along with many Poles living in Paris at the time, including the poet Zygmunt Krasiński and his wife Elżbieta.

The first part of the exhibition, Ary Scheffer’s Studio in Paris, introduces the atmosphere of this unique place. The second part is dedicated to Romantic Themes found in art across Europe. A special place is given to the genre of the ballad, present in painting, literature, and music alike. The centerpiece of this section is an extraordinary manuscript of Chopin’s Ballade in F minor, Op. 52.

The section Romantic Circle tells the story of the closest friends of the famous artistic couple—George Sand and Frédéric Chopin. Their life together unfolded in Paris but also in Nohant, the writer’s country estate. Their stays at the rural home were a time of rest among nature and pets, lively discussions about art and music, and intense creative work.

Friendship and the cultivation of human bonds are key aspects of the romantic life. In the section titled Keepsakes, the exhibition showcases how people in that era maintained memory of loved ones or famous figures—represented through casts of hands and feet, friendship albums, and jewelry made from hair.

One of the integral layers of the exhibition is it's audiosphere.

We invite you to immerse yourself in the mysterious world of Romanticism, to marvel at the beauty of art and music, and to reflect on friendship and memory, which bind people with unbreakable ties, regardless of the passage of time.

Exhibition curators:
– Urszula Król, Dr Seweryn Kuter / Fryderyk Chopin Museum (NIFC)
– Gaëlle Rio, Charlotte Piot / Musée de la Vie romantique (Paris Musées)
– Dr Artur Szklener / music curator (NIFC)

Exhibition design: Studio Karolina Fandrejewska 
Design team: Karolina Fandrejewska, Anna Langowska, Mikołaj Niewęgłowski
Graphic design: Marta Lissowska 
Graphic assistant: Emilia Bucior

Exhibition organized with the exceptional collaboration of the Musée de la Vie romantique, Paris Musées

We thank the management of Paris Musées for the opportunity to present selected objects from the collection of the Museum of Romantic Life to visitors of the Fryderyk Chopin Museum in Warsaw.