DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.23229#0011
INTRODUCTION
that the composer lived next to the well-appointed University Library and
University Museum. Most of these questions can now be answered thanks
to new investigations concerning both iconographical sources, such as Os-
kar Kolberg's drawing or the documentation of Jan Tafitowski's 1827 survey
of the University buildings, and unpublished written sources from Chopin's
time, such as professor Feliks Jarocki's Chronicle of the Kazimierzowski
Palace. Regarding the question of Chopin and the visual arts, all Chopin's
letters have been carefully studied to find that to the very end of his life he
cultivated an interest in painting and fine arts exhibitions, which he had ac-
quired among the artists and scholars of Warsaw. The academic and aris-
tocratic world he was acquainted with in his Polish youth allowed him, as
William G. Atwood (1987) noticed, to enter smoothly into the polished socie-
ties of Paris and London. Already while in Vienna in August 1829 the young
genius observed: "both ladies and artists liked me [...] I have captured both
the learned and the emotional folk".
Chopin's letters to Eustachy Marylski, Jan Biatobtocki and Tytus Woycie-
chowski reveal that he was involved in the University life, having befriend-
ed many students and professors whom he used to meet on an almost
daily basis. In those letters Chopin mentioned changes in the University's
Botanical Gardens, names of the professors and students at the Fine Arts
Department, as well as the public art exhibitions organised biannually at the
University. Chopin's very first surviving letter written in 1823, at the age of
thirteen, touches upon the University and its matters.
In The Parisian Words of Frederic Chopin (1999, p. 315) Atwood writes:
"Delacroix especially enjoyed his long conversation with Chopin: 'He
is a man of rare distinction, the most genuine artist I have ever met [...]'.
Although Chopin was equally delighted with Delacroix's company, he could
never appreciate his creative genius. As Mme Sand observed, her lover
was a musician and only a musician, with little feeling for the other arts.
Painting and sculpture were beyond his comprehension; even the works of
such great masters as Michelangelo and Rubens perplexed him more than
they pleased him. The only contemporary artist that he seemed to like was
[...] Ingres". With this book we hope to be able, at least to some degree, to
change the view that Chopin had "little feeling for the other arts".
In writing this book, we received help and support from many individuals
and institutions. We would like to give our heartfelt thanks to Professor Zofia
Helman, Professor Zbigniew Skowron and Hanna Wrbblewska-Straus for
countless consultations and stimulating discussions. Our special thanks
go to Dr. Artur Szklener, Dr. Alicja Knast and Teresa Lewandowska of the
National Institute of Frederick Chopin in Warsaw for the most valuable help
with regard to numerous photographs and for the access to the resources
of the Museum and the Library. We would like to express our gratitude to
the staff of Warsaw University libraries: the Main Library (BUW), the Institute
of Musicology, Institute of History and the Libraries of: the National Mu-
seum in Warsaw, the Association of Historians of Art and of the Institute of
Arts of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Our thanks also to the staff of the
University Library Print Room (GR BUW), as well as the staff of the Depart-
ment of Polish Drawings of the National Museum in Warsaw, of the Histori-
cal Museum of the Capital City of Warsaw, and of the Royal Residence in
Lazienki. We also appreciated the help of the Head of Central Archives of
Historical Records Dr. Hubert Wajs, the Head of the State Archive of the
that the composer lived next to the well-appointed University Library and
University Museum. Most of these questions can now be answered thanks
to new investigations concerning both iconographical sources, such as Os-
kar Kolberg's drawing or the documentation of Jan Tafitowski's 1827 survey
of the University buildings, and unpublished written sources from Chopin's
time, such as professor Feliks Jarocki's Chronicle of the Kazimierzowski
Palace. Regarding the question of Chopin and the visual arts, all Chopin's
letters have been carefully studied to find that to the very end of his life he
cultivated an interest in painting and fine arts exhibitions, which he had ac-
quired among the artists and scholars of Warsaw. The academic and aris-
tocratic world he was acquainted with in his Polish youth allowed him, as
William G. Atwood (1987) noticed, to enter smoothly into the polished socie-
ties of Paris and London. Already while in Vienna in August 1829 the young
genius observed: "both ladies and artists liked me [...] I have captured both
the learned and the emotional folk".
Chopin's letters to Eustachy Marylski, Jan Biatobtocki and Tytus Woycie-
chowski reveal that he was involved in the University life, having befriend-
ed many students and professors whom he used to meet on an almost
daily basis. In those letters Chopin mentioned changes in the University's
Botanical Gardens, names of the professors and students at the Fine Arts
Department, as well as the public art exhibitions organised biannually at the
University. Chopin's very first surviving letter written in 1823, at the age of
thirteen, touches upon the University and its matters.
In The Parisian Words of Frederic Chopin (1999, p. 315) Atwood writes:
"Delacroix especially enjoyed his long conversation with Chopin: 'He
is a man of rare distinction, the most genuine artist I have ever met [...]'.
Although Chopin was equally delighted with Delacroix's company, he could
never appreciate his creative genius. As Mme Sand observed, her lover
was a musician and only a musician, with little feeling for the other arts.
Painting and sculpture were beyond his comprehension; even the works of
such great masters as Michelangelo and Rubens perplexed him more than
they pleased him. The only contemporary artist that he seemed to like was
[...] Ingres". With this book we hope to be able, at least to some degree, to
change the view that Chopin had "little feeling for the other arts".
In writing this book, we received help and support from many individuals
and institutions. We would like to give our heartfelt thanks to Professor Zofia
Helman, Professor Zbigniew Skowron and Hanna Wrbblewska-Straus for
countless consultations and stimulating discussions. Our special thanks
go to Dr. Artur Szklener, Dr. Alicja Knast and Teresa Lewandowska of the
National Institute of Frederick Chopin in Warsaw for the most valuable help
with regard to numerous photographs and for the access to the resources
of the Museum and the Library. We would like to express our gratitude to
the staff of Warsaw University libraries: the Main Library (BUW), the Institute
of Musicology, Institute of History and the Libraries of: the National Mu-
seum in Warsaw, the Association of Historians of Art and of the Institute of
Arts of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Our thanks also to the staff of the
University Library Print Room (GR BUW), as well as the staff of the Depart-
ment of Polish Drawings of the National Museum in Warsaw, of the Histori-
cal Museum of the Capital City of Warsaw, and of the Royal Residence in
Lazienki. We also appreciated the help of the Head of Central Archives of
Historical Records Dr. Hubert Wajs, the Head of the State Archive of the