DOI Heft:
Nr. 3
DOI Artikel:Kronika naukowa
DOI Artikel:Miziołek, Jerzy: The exhibition of books purchased by the Library of the Institue of Art from the Polish Academy of Sciences with grants received from the Getty Trust and the Samuel H. Kress Foundation
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.48739#0358
KRONIKA
NAUKOWA
tion was also given by: Radio S, Radio Z and Radio WAW-a
and on television: The Warsaw Television Courier (17th Sep-
tember) and The Cultural Magazine of The Sunday News (27"
September, journalist O. Braniecka). Also there was a special
programme about the exhibition, prepared by Elżbieta Kollat,
in the Morning Magazine of Station IV of the Polish Radio.
Dr. Jerzy Miziołek's speech.
Ladies and Gentlemen!
In this reading-room we are proud to be able to present
about eight hundred publications, mostly books, which have
been purchased thanks to grants from two fatnous American
foundations: The Getty Trust and The Samuel H. Kress Foun-
dation. In organizing this exhibition we wished to express our
gratitude to these foundations, and also to make accessible this
large collection of new publications to scholars and students of
art history, classical archeology and other humanistic discipli-
nes in Poland. It is my great hope that from the several thou-
sands of recently published books we have chosen the most
important and that they will stimulate the development if
scholary research concerning both foreign and Polish art.
Before introducing the exhibition I would like to explain
the circumstances under which we obtained the grants, and our
purchasing policies.
Since 1988 the Library Committee of our Institute has
been taking steps to acquire various foreign publications and
to receive funds necessary for buying books, and periodicals
whose subscription were interrupted by Martial Law. Until
1990 we managed to obtain many valuable books and peri-
odicals from France and Germany. Our exchange with the
Warburg Institute was also friutful. It was not, however, until
1990 that a noticeable turning-point occurred when one of the
departments of The Getty Trust - The Getty Grant Program,
answered to our requests positively. We owe this grant not only
to our own activities but, above all, to the new political condi-
tions in Central and Eastern Europe. Due to these changes the
Getty Grant Program was able to widen its score by helping
libraries in Central and Eastern Europe.
Surely, many of our colleagues from the Institute must
remember how at the beginning of September 1990 Dr. Char-
les J. Meyers, one of The Getty Grant Program officers, visited
our library and other departaments of The Institute of Art. He
noted the contens of our library and the reading-room and saw
the catalogues, the stores (particularly our latest purchases).
He also showed his interest in the Institute's publications and
the current scholarly research. His opinion of the library and
our work was positive. A few months after Dr. Meyer's visit we
received a proposal to apply for a grant and to prepare a
detailed plan of purchases. At that time a Committee resposib-
le for purchases was created; it consisted of: Prof. Joseph B.
Trapp of the Warburg Institute, Prof. Cieri Via from „The
Sapienza", Dr. Arnold Nesselrath from The Hertziana, and
also Prof. Stanisław Mossakowski, Prof. Juliusz Chrościcki,
Prof. Andrzej Olszewski, and Dr. Jerzy Miziołek who was
appointed as supervisor. In June 1991 we received a cheque in
the sum of fifty thousand dollars to be spent on library acqui-
sitions until the first half of 1993.
80% of the exhibits are books and periodicals bought
thanks to funds from The Getty Trust. They deal with art from
Antiquity to Contemporary times, from architecture to crafts
and XIXth century photography. A large number of the books
have an interdisciplinary character which is in line with the spirit
of contemporary research in art history. We are very proud that
some of these publications appeared very recently. Most of the
publications are in English and Italian. This has nothing to do
with the individual preferences of the Committee but is due to
the fact that before obtaining the grant the library received
many important publications from France and Germany. We
therefore wanted to fill the gap with the most important English
and Italian literature on art. Since April 1992 we started to
organize the purchase of German and French books. I hope
that no later than March 1993 we will be able to invite you to
an exhibition of these publications.
I would like to stress that, with a few exceptions, the books
and periodicals presented here cannot be found in any other
Warsaw libraries. Before sending orders to the publishers or
booksellers the staff of our library diligently checked the libra-
ries'catalogues. All these books have been bought with disco-
unts. Sometimes, as was the case with the publications of the
Oxford University Press, we received a 40% reduction in price.
We also searched for cheap ways of transportation. For exam-
ple, thanks to the generosity of Mr. Andrzej Osiadacz, Director
of a branch of PEKAES in Padua, it was possible to convey
about 500 kilograms of books for a mere 400 DM.
The Getty Trust gave us yet another gift which is also being
shown here. In June of this year we received several books
which were duplicates from the large library of The Getty
Center for The History of Art and Humanities. Since we
already had some of them they will be handed over, with the
consent of the donor, to other libraries in Warsaw or in Poland.
Among these books, however, are copies that we have always
been lacking, i. e. catalogues from the eighties, publications
based on sources and monoraphs on some famous cathedrals.
Many of them are the only existing copies in Poland.
Apart from books purchased thanks to The Getty Trust
grant and those acquired from The Getty Center we are proud
to be able to present eighty yolumes of The Illustrated Bartsch.
These are indispensable for scholars interested in Late Medie-
val, Renaissance an Baroque Art. This purchase was financed
and organized by The Samuel H. Kress Foundation. It will
assist art historians in Poland for many years to come. The sum
of ten thousend dollars, which we obtained from the Founda-
tion, is in reality higher because this publication was bought
with a 30% discount. We owe this grant to Dr. Marilyn Perry,
President of The Kress Foundation. Dr. Perry visited Poland
in April 1990 on the occassion of the memorable Opus Sacrum
exhibition. She was extremely positive about supporting the
library of our Institute.
I would also like to recall the name of Prof. Antonio
Paolucci, Soprintendente ai beni artistici e storici of Florence,
who generously gave us, in May of this year, over twenty
yolumes on art of Toscany. These yolumes consist mainly of
important catalogues of museums: e. g. in Volterra, Pistoia,
Florence, Arezzo and Borgo San Sepolcro.
110
NAUKOWA
tion was also given by: Radio S, Radio Z and Radio WAW-a
and on television: The Warsaw Television Courier (17th Sep-
tember) and The Cultural Magazine of The Sunday News (27"
September, journalist O. Braniecka). Also there was a special
programme about the exhibition, prepared by Elżbieta Kollat,
in the Morning Magazine of Station IV of the Polish Radio.
Dr. Jerzy Miziołek's speech.
Ladies and Gentlemen!
In this reading-room we are proud to be able to present
about eight hundred publications, mostly books, which have
been purchased thanks to grants from two fatnous American
foundations: The Getty Trust and The Samuel H. Kress Foun-
dation. In organizing this exhibition we wished to express our
gratitude to these foundations, and also to make accessible this
large collection of new publications to scholars and students of
art history, classical archeology and other humanistic discipli-
nes in Poland. It is my great hope that from the several thou-
sands of recently published books we have chosen the most
important and that they will stimulate the development if
scholary research concerning both foreign and Polish art.
Before introducing the exhibition I would like to explain
the circumstances under which we obtained the grants, and our
purchasing policies.
Since 1988 the Library Committee of our Institute has
been taking steps to acquire various foreign publications and
to receive funds necessary for buying books, and periodicals
whose subscription were interrupted by Martial Law. Until
1990 we managed to obtain many valuable books and peri-
odicals from France and Germany. Our exchange with the
Warburg Institute was also friutful. It was not, however, until
1990 that a noticeable turning-point occurred when one of the
departments of The Getty Trust - The Getty Grant Program,
answered to our requests positively. We owe this grant not only
to our own activities but, above all, to the new political condi-
tions in Central and Eastern Europe. Due to these changes the
Getty Grant Program was able to widen its score by helping
libraries in Central and Eastern Europe.
Surely, many of our colleagues from the Institute must
remember how at the beginning of September 1990 Dr. Char-
les J. Meyers, one of The Getty Grant Program officers, visited
our library and other departaments of The Institute of Art. He
noted the contens of our library and the reading-room and saw
the catalogues, the stores (particularly our latest purchases).
He also showed his interest in the Institute's publications and
the current scholarly research. His opinion of the library and
our work was positive. A few months after Dr. Meyer's visit we
received a proposal to apply for a grant and to prepare a
detailed plan of purchases. At that time a Committee resposib-
le for purchases was created; it consisted of: Prof. Joseph B.
Trapp of the Warburg Institute, Prof. Cieri Via from „The
Sapienza", Dr. Arnold Nesselrath from The Hertziana, and
also Prof. Stanisław Mossakowski, Prof. Juliusz Chrościcki,
Prof. Andrzej Olszewski, and Dr. Jerzy Miziołek who was
appointed as supervisor. In June 1991 we received a cheque in
the sum of fifty thousand dollars to be spent on library acqui-
sitions until the first half of 1993.
80% of the exhibits are books and periodicals bought
thanks to funds from The Getty Trust. They deal with art from
Antiquity to Contemporary times, from architecture to crafts
and XIXth century photography. A large number of the books
have an interdisciplinary character which is in line with the spirit
of contemporary research in art history. We are very proud that
some of these publications appeared very recently. Most of the
publications are in English and Italian. This has nothing to do
with the individual preferences of the Committee but is due to
the fact that before obtaining the grant the library received
many important publications from France and Germany. We
therefore wanted to fill the gap with the most important English
and Italian literature on art. Since April 1992 we started to
organize the purchase of German and French books. I hope
that no later than March 1993 we will be able to invite you to
an exhibition of these publications.
I would like to stress that, with a few exceptions, the books
and periodicals presented here cannot be found in any other
Warsaw libraries. Before sending orders to the publishers or
booksellers the staff of our library diligently checked the libra-
ries'catalogues. All these books have been bought with disco-
unts. Sometimes, as was the case with the publications of the
Oxford University Press, we received a 40% reduction in price.
We also searched for cheap ways of transportation. For exam-
ple, thanks to the generosity of Mr. Andrzej Osiadacz, Director
of a branch of PEKAES in Padua, it was possible to convey
about 500 kilograms of books for a mere 400 DM.
The Getty Trust gave us yet another gift which is also being
shown here. In June of this year we received several books
which were duplicates from the large library of The Getty
Center for The History of Art and Humanities. Since we
already had some of them they will be handed over, with the
consent of the donor, to other libraries in Warsaw or in Poland.
Among these books, however, are copies that we have always
been lacking, i. e. catalogues from the eighties, publications
based on sources and monoraphs on some famous cathedrals.
Many of them are the only existing copies in Poland.
Apart from books purchased thanks to The Getty Trust
grant and those acquired from The Getty Center we are proud
to be able to present eighty yolumes of The Illustrated Bartsch.
These are indispensable for scholars interested in Late Medie-
val, Renaissance an Baroque Art. This purchase was financed
and organized by The Samuel H. Kress Foundation. It will
assist art historians in Poland for many years to come. The sum
of ten thousend dollars, which we obtained from the Founda-
tion, is in reality higher because this publication was bought
with a 30% discount. We owe this grant to Dr. Marilyn Perry,
President of The Kress Foundation. Dr. Perry visited Poland
in April 1990 on the occassion of the memorable Opus Sacrum
exhibition. She was extremely positive about supporting the
library of our Institute.
I would also like to recall the name of Prof. Antonio
Paolucci, Soprintendente ai beni artistici e storici of Florence,
who generously gave us, in May of this year, over twenty
yolumes on art of Toscany. These yolumes consist mainly of
important catalogues of museums: e. g. in Volterra, Pistoia,
Florence, Arezzo and Borgo San Sepolcro.
110