DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.29195#0142
Condusion
There can only be a surrogate of a conclusion, a few ideas, something Iike an intro-
duction to a conclusion for which it is far too soon. Endurance, tradition, the aura
of past splendour, attempts to restore its components, the conjuring up of an artistic
atmosphere by juxtaposing and aligning historic and contemporary works of art - for
many years we have been observing all of this in the Czartoryski-Potocki Palace, see-
ing a continuation in the endeavours that inspired the Czartoryski, the Princess Mar-
shal, Stanislaw Kostka Potocki and his cousin Jozef Potocki. A red car looking like
something from intergalactic space or straight from a racing course and parked on
the green lawn in the Palace’s court, with Magdalena Abakanowicz’s “Mutants” qui-
etly grazing nearby. Isn’t there something of the enigma of artistic creation about it,
an aspect of the mystery of the world, or perhaps the aura of the exhibitions of times
bygone in Unger’s gallery, and Matejko, Siemiradzki, Witkiewicz, and Chelmonski
visiting it, or maybe the sound of Sienkiewicz’s footsteps on his way to see the editor
of Tygodnik Ilustrowanyi And on top of that, an echo of the theatre performances, the
tableaux vivants, and concerts, the excitement engendered by the Palace’s magnificent
interiors and the masterpieces hanging between the bookcases and cabinets of books,
prints and engravings?
“There used to be...” says Leon Potocki’s book. But THERE STILLIS! - thanks to
the vintage photographs, the memoirs, and the film about “The Princess of Lowicz”.
Today the Palace has a mission which is quite different from its original purpose, but
it has had the good fortune to stay largely under the auspices of the Muses.
Even if not all of the Muses used to abide in the Palace in the old days, even if not all
of them are present now, doesn’t the concert very likely given here by the young Fry-
deryk Chopin, doesn’t the music-making by Maria Kalergis, Napoleon dancing with
Maria Walewska, the memoirs Niemcewicz wrote here, the plays and tableaux vivants
performed here, the frescoes, drawings, and watercolours by Brenna, Vogel, Bojano-
wicz, and the other artists - doesn’t all this call to mind at least some of the daughters
of Mnemosyne — Calliope, Melpomene, Euterpe, Polyhymnia, Thalia, and Clio?
Clio, Polyhymnia, and Euterpe have been extending their special care over the corps
de garde for a long time now. Originally built as a guardhouse, a few decades later it
ceased to serve this purpose and turned into a bookshop, a shop selling artists equip-
As the business
of the Muses
has been our
subject...
153
There can only be a surrogate of a conclusion, a few ideas, something Iike an intro-
duction to a conclusion for which it is far too soon. Endurance, tradition, the aura
of past splendour, attempts to restore its components, the conjuring up of an artistic
atmosphere by juxtaposing and aligning historic and contemporary works of art - for
many years we have been observing all of this in the Czartoryski-Potocki Palace, see-
ing a continuation in the endeavours that inspired the Czartoryski, the Princess Mar-
shal, Stanislaw Kostka Potocki and his cousin Jozef Potocki. A red car looking like
something from intergalactic space or straight from a racing course and parked on
the green lawn in the Palace’s court, with Magdalena Abakanowicz’s “Mutants” qui-
etly grazing nearby. Isn’t there something of the enigma of artistic creation about it,
an aspect of the mystery of the world, or perhaps the aura of the exhibitions of times
bygone in Unger’s gallery, and Matejko, Siemiradzki, Witkiewicz, and Chelmonski
visiting it, or maybe the sound of Sienkiewicz’s footsteps on his way to see the editor
of Tygodnik Ilustrowanyi And on top of that, an echo of the theatre performances, the
tableaux vivants, and concerts, the excitement engendered by the Palace’s magnificent
interiors and the masterpieces hanging between the bookcases and cabinets of books,
prints and engravings?
“There used to be...” says Leon Potocki’s book. But THERE STILLIS! - thanks to
the vintage photographs, the memoirs, and the film about “The Princess of Lowicz”.
Today the Palace has a mission which is quite different from its original purpose, but
it has had the good fortune to stay largely under the auspices of the Muses.
Even if not all of the Muses used to abide in the Palace in the old days, even if not all
of them are present now, doesn’t the concert very likely given here by the young Fry-
deryk Chopin, doesn’t the music-making by Maria Kalergis, Napoleon dancing with
Maria Walewska, the memoirs Niemcewicz wrote here, the plays and tableaux vivants
performed here, the frescoes, drawings, and watercolours by Brenna, Vogel, Bojano-
wicz, and the other artists - doesn’t all this call to mind at least some of the daughters
of Mnemosyne — Calliope, Melpomene, Euterpe, Polyhymnia, Thalia, and Clio?
Clio, Polyhymnia, and Euterpe have been extending their special care over the corps
de garde for a long time now. Originally built as a guardhouse, a few decades later it
ceased to serve this purpose and turned into a bookshop, a shop selling artists equip-
As the business
of the Muses
has been our
subject...
153