Compared to the first edition of the exhibition, the decision was made to place greater emphasis on taking up ‘problems of contemporary interior design, which aims to best meet the needs of the broad masses’

The preparation of the exhibition of works by Katarzyna Kobro (1898–1951) and Władysław Strzemiński (1893–1952) was a complicated affair with a number of surprising turns of events. As a result of the efforts undertaken by the organisers, it eventually took place in December 1956 at the Bureau of Art Exhibitions in Łódź. Even in September 1956, moving the exhibition to Warsaw was all but impossible.

The exhibition of 46 works by Renato Guttuso (1911–1987), consisting of 30 paintings and 16 drawings, occupied two big rooms at Zachęta. A poster advertising the show reproduced one of the pieces, The Fighter, a strongly expressive work of art which brings to mind The Bomber (2004), the contemporary sculpture of Anna Baumgart. Guttuso was a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Italy (since 1951), the World Peace Council, and a former partisan.