DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.29195#0136
Secrets of the Past
The Zach^ta
Society takes
over the
initiative
Despite the short spell for which his gallery was in operation, we can hardly fail
to appreciate Unger’s significance. He made a paramount contribution not only to
the revival of trade in works of art, but also to a rise in public interest in the works
of Polish and foreign artists. In February 1883 the Zach^ta Society moved into the
pavilion Unger had built. As Balinski remarked, to display its not very large collec-
tion for a time, it availed itselfofthe huge wooden shed Gracjan Unger had installed in
the court ofStanislaw Potocki’s mansion, which was later theproperty ofJozefPotocki
ofAntoniny.
Henryk Struve was effusive in his praise of the Society’s decision to move into
the court of the Potocki Palace: Two facts ofartistic significance are to be observed in
particular as evidence fior the mobility and vigour ofthe Zachfta Society under its cur-
rent management: the temporary exhibition of Polish artists it has arranged in Kiev,
and the renting out ofMr. Unger’s gallery fior its second exhibition, dedicated chiefly to
good works from abroad. The former needs no special reflection, for everyone will read-
ily appreciate its meaning. The latter is significant as one of the most ejficient means
of stimulating public interest in art. Not once in our opinions have we indicated the
pressing needfor the work offoreign artists to be brought into our exhibitions. We have
certainly not been doingso out ofdisregardfor Polish art, whose magnificentprogress we
have been observing with greatjoy. But we cannot deny that such progress has been to
a large extent the outcome ofPolish artists’ encounters with foreign European art; and
that despite the brilliant works created recently in Polish art, there is still a lot we can
learn from foreigners; and that this lesson calls for the observation of noteworthy Euro-
pean works ofart and the comparison ofour art with them. Until outstandingpaintings
and sculptures come to Warsaw, just as they do to Paris, Vienna, Berlin, Munich, and
Dresden, there can be no question ofvigorous activity in our visual arts. . . . We are
very pleased that thanks to the current management ofthe Zachfta Society as of the new
year we shall be taking thefirst steps on that road. We are in no doubt that the excellent
works ofMunkdcsy, Makart, and Gallait will draw in more visitors to Mr. Unger’s gal-
lery than Suchorowski's “Nana", which had been intended to bring about ejfects that
have nothing whatsoever to do with art, being a symptom ofafar lower order (Klosy,
1882, Vol. XXXV, No. 909, p. 348).
The Zach^ta Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts pursued its activities
in Unger’s pavilion until the structure was dismantled. In those twelve years
not only did it install a permanent exhibition but also held temporary exhibi-
tions there, as we have said. 'ihe temporary exhibitions included works such as
Szymon Buchbinder’s “Sigismund III in a goldsmith’s shop”; Louise Abbema’s
“Four seasons”, for which the famous actress Sarah Bernhardt had posed; and
“The death of Gedymin” by Kazimierz Alchimowicz. About a thousand photo-
graphs acquired from the traveller and naval officer Antoni Prosinski were ac-
corded a place in the gallery. Their subjects were generic scenes, landscapes, and
ethnography. Matejko’s masterpiece, “The Battle of Grunwald”, was the high-
light of the Society’s permanent exhibition. It had been bought from the artist
in 1878, when it had not been finished yet, by Dawid Rosenblum, a Warsaw
banker. It was soon on display for Unger, and subsequently as a deposit for the
Zach^ta. The Society did not purchase it until 1902, for a truly symbolic sum;
the Rosenblum family made a bequest of it to the Nation and to Warsaw. Today
the huge canvas is one of the greatest artistic treasures in the National Museum
in Poland’s capital.
146
The Zach^ta
Society takes
over the
initiative
Despite the short spell for which his gallery was in operation, we can hardly fail
to appreciate Unger’s significance. He made a paramount contribution not only to
the revival of trade in works of art, but also to a rise in public interest in the works
of Polish and foreign artists. In February 1883 the Zach^ta Society moved into the
pavilion Unger had built. As Balinski remarked, to display its not very large collec-
tion for a time, it availed itselfofthe huge wooden shed Gracjan Unger had installed in
the court ofStanislaw Potocki’s mansion, which was later theproperty ofJozefPotocki
ofAntoniny.
Henryk Struve was effusive in his praise of the Society’s decision to move into
the court of the Potocki Palace: Two facts ofartistic significance are to be observed in
particular as evidence fior the mobility and vigour ofthe Zachfta Society under its cur-
rent management: the temporary exhibition of Polish artists it has arranged in Kiev,
and the renting out ofMr. Unger’s gallery fior its second exhibition, dedicated chiefly to
good works from abroad. The former needs no special reflection, for everyone will read-
ily appreciate its meaning. The latter is significant as one of the most ejficient means
of stimulating public interest in art. Not once in our opinions have we indicated the
pressing needfor the work offoreign artists to be brought into our exhibitions. We have
certainly not been doingso out ofdisregardfor Polish art, whose magnificentprogress we
have been observing with greatjoy. But we cannot deny that such progress has been to
a large extent the outcome ofPolish artists’ encounters with foreign European art; and
that despite the brilliant works created recently in Polish art, there is still a lot we can
learn from foreigners; and that this lesson calls for the observation of noteworthy Euro-
pean works ofart and the comparison ofour art with them. Until outstandingpaintings
and sculptures come to Warsaw, just as they do to Paris, Vienna, Berlin, Munich, and
Dresden, there can be no question ofvigorous activity in our visual arts. . . . We are
very pleased that thanks to the current management ofthe Zachfta Society as of the new
year we shall be taking thefirst steps on that road. We are in no doubt that the excellent
works ofMunkdcsy, Makart, and Gallait will draw in more visitors to Mr. Unger’s gal-
lery than Suchorowski's “Nana", which had been intended to bring about ejfects that
have nothing whatsoever to do with art, being a symptom ofafar lower order (Klosy,
1882, Vol. XXXV, No. 909, p. 348).
The Zach^ta Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts pursued its activities
in Unger’s pavilion until the structure was dismantled. In those twelve years
not only did it install a permanent exhibition but also held temporary exhibi-
tions there, as we have said. 'ihe temporary exhibitions included works such as
Szymon Buchbinder’s “Sigismund III in a goldsmith’s shop”; Louise Abbema’s
“Four seasons”, for which the famous actress Sarah Bernhardt had posed; and
“The death of Gedymin” by Kazimierz Alchimowicz. About a thousand photo-
graphs acquired from the traveller and naval officer Antoni Prosinski were ac-
corded a place in the gallery. Their subjects were generic scenes, landscapes, and
ethnography. Matejko’s masterpiece, “The Battle of Grunwald”, was the high-
light of the Society’s permanent exhibition. It had been bought from the artist
in 1878, when it had not been finished yet, by Dawid Rosenblum, a Warsaw
banker. It was soon on display for Unger, and subsequently as a deposit for the
Zach^ta. The Society did not purchase it until 1902, for a truly symbolic sum;
the Rosenblum family made a bequest of it to the Nation and to Warsaw. Today
the huge canvas is one of the greatest artistic treasures in the National Museum
in Poland’s capital.
146