DOI Heft:
Introduction
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21224#0012
10
Introduction
Two papers refer to the end of the 19th century. Joanna Kowalska describes rather
peculiar objets d'art: mantelpiece fans madę of feathers, of an exotic origin. The Museum
boasts an excellent collection of fans, displayed recently with great success at the exhi-
bition “Fans of the Occident and Orient”, presented also in a successive volume of the
catalogues of the Museum collections, published in 2001.
The second article discusses a rather untypical exhibit preserved in the Museum,
namely Paon - Sketches by the Young Poland Artists. It is a uniąue testimony of the
cafe-artistic atmosphere of Cracow at the close of the 19* century and at the same time a
chronicie - created currently - by the well-known Cracovian bohemians. Barbara
Malkiewicz has reconstructed a colourful history of the Paon, discovered in the early
1980s by the author of the present text in the Museum recesses and handed over to
conservators, who have uncovered the beauty and documentary value of the canvas. In
the year 2004 the Museum prepares two exhibitions, at which the painting discussed will
play a substantial role: one devoted to cafes, including the famous “Jama Michalikowa”
and its cabaret The Green Balloon, and the second, entitled “Fin de siecle in Cracow”.
During both of them the Visitors will be able to see the Paon in a proper context.
A novelty which we introduce beginning with the present volume of the Selected
Papers are short reports on the research conducted in the Museum. The cycle has been
initiated by our ladies conservators - Anna Grochowska-Angelus and Małgorzata
Chmielewska. The First of the communiąues concems the conservation of one of the most
precious pieces of Italian Renaissance painting in the Polish collections - Adoration of
the Child by Lorenzo Lotto. This excellent work, purchased by the National Museum in
Cracow in 1971, in the years 1996-1997 underwent a thorough renovation process, which
retumed it its former splendour. Also foreign art connoisseurs had the opportunity to
appreciate our efforts during the monographic exhibition devoted to Lorenzo Lotto’s
oeuvre, presented in Washington, D.C., Bergamo and Paris.
The second communiąue refers to the renovation and research works conducted
on some paintings which remain in joint ownership of the National Museum in Cracow
and the Princes Czartoryski Foundation. Those activities, among others, fixed the attri-
bution of works, confirmed their dating and, most importantly, restored their original lustre.
I can only express my hope that other Colleagues, encouraged by the example of
our Ladies Conservators, will submit further communiąues informing us about interest-
ing findings and attributions.
Finally, I want to add two observations which may suggest themselves to the Read-
ers. Firstly, part of the texts reminds us of our old and tight connections with other Euro-
pean countries, the fact which gains in importance in 2004, the year of our accession to
the structures of the European Union. Secondly, it is an old truth, which finds a still new
corroborative evidence, that Cracow at the tum of the 19* and 20* centuries was a city
rich in important, yet not fully recognized artistic events. As our Museum has always
devoted a considerable attention to them, it can now boast the supreme collection of
artistic creations from that period.
Zofia Gołubiew
Director of the National Museum
in Cracow
Introduction
Two papers refer to the end of the 19th century. Joanna Kowalska describes rather
peculiar objets d'art: mantelpiece fans madę of feathers, of an exotic origin. The Museum
boasts an excellent collection of fans, displayed recently with great success at the exhi-
bition “Fans of the Occident and Orient”, presented also in a successive volume of the
catalogues of the Museum collections, published in 2001.
The second article discusses a rather untypical exhibit preserved in the Museum,
namely Paon - Sketches by the Young Poland Artists. It is a uniąue testimony of the
cafe-artistic atmosphere of Cracow at the close of the 19* century and at the same time a
chronicie - created currently - by the well-known Cracovian bohemians. Barbara
Malkiewicz has reconstructed a colourful history of the Paon, discovered in the early
1980s by the author of the present text in the Museum recesses and handed over to
conservators, who have uncovered the beauty and documentary value of the canvas. In
the year 2004 the Museum prepares two exhibitions, at which the painting discussed will
play a substantial role: one devoted to cafes, including the famous “Jama Michalikowa”
and its cabaret The Green Balloon, and the second, entitled “Fin de siecle in Cracow”.
During both of them the Visitors will be able to see the Paon in a proper context.
A novelty which we introduce beginning with the present volume of the Selected
Papers are short reports on the research conducted in the Museum. The cycle has been
initiated by our ladies conservators - Anna Grochowska-Angelus and Małgorzata
Chmielewska. The First of the communiąues concems the conservation of one of the most
precious pieces of Italian Renaissance painting in the Polish collections - Adoration of
the Child by Lorenzo Lotto. This excellent work, purchased by the National Museum in
Cracow in 1971, in the years 1996-1997 underwent a thorough renovation process, which
retumed it its former splendour. Also foreign art connoisseurs had the opportunity to
appreciate our efforts during the monographic exhibition devoted to Lorenzo Lotto’s
oeuvre, presented in Washington, D.C., Bergamo and Paris.
The second communiąue refers to the renovation and research works conducted
on some paintings which remain in joint ownership of the National Museum in Cracow
and the Princes Czartoryski Foundation. Those activities, among others, fixed the attri-
bution of works, confirmed their dating and, most importantly, restored their original lustre.
I can only express my hope that other Colleagues, encouraged by the example of
our Ladies Conservators, will submit further communiąues informing us about interest-
ing findings and attributions.
Finally, I want to add two observations which may suggest themselves to the Read-
ers. Firstly, part of the texts reminds us of our old and tight connections with other Euro-
pean countries, the fact which gains in importance in 2004, the year of our accession to
the structures of the European Union. Secondly, it is an old truth, which finds a still new
corroborative evidence, that Cracow at the tum of the 19* and 20* centuries was a city
rich in important, yet not fully recognized artistic events. As our Museum has always
devoted a considerable attention to them, it can now boast the supreme collection of
artistic creations from that period.
Zofia Gołubiew
Director of the National Museum
in Cracow