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THE FIRST RECOVERY JOURNEY OF KAROL ESTREICHER TO THE AMERICAN OCCUPATION ZONE IN GERMANY (Pierwsza podroz rewindykacyjna Karola Estraichera do amerykanskiej strefy okupacyjnej w Niemczech)

100%

Lewek I.

Muzealnictwo

2004

issue 45

19-27

The article discusses the so-called first (13 November 1945 - 31 April 1946) recovery journey made by Karol Estreicher, an acclaimed Polish historian of art, to the American occupation zone in Germany. This venture was preceded by Estreicher's efforts aimed at reclaiming Polish cultural property during the WW II (i. a. a documentation of the losses, impact on the establishment of the Committee of the Protection and Restitution of Cultural Material, known as the Vaucher Committee), first in France (alongside Wladyslaw Sikorski) and then in England (where Estreicher was the head of the Restoration Commission of the Polish government-in-exile in London) as well as during an unprecedented mission conducted in the U.S.A. at the turn of 1942 (the Estreicher memorial). Initial Allied support for the Polish question radically changed due to the rapid advance of Soviet armies across Polish territory under Nazi occupation, and the arbitrary decisions made by the victorious Powers in Yalta and Potsdam. Estreicher's idée fixe, which involved a consistently realised conception of reclaiming works of art plundered by the Germans, together with proposed compensation for damaged works (the principle of substitute compensation), led to a decision to seek the support of the pro-communist Warsaw government, recognised by the Allies. Ultimately, K. Estreicher was granted the post of a representative of that government, and after several months of an extremely complicated mission he managed to organise, with the assistance of the American Monuments of Fine Arts and Archives, the first important transport of recovered cultural property from Germany to Poland, including such invaluable works as the altar by Wit Stwosz, the 'Lady with an Ermine' by Leonardo da Vinci, the 'Landscape with the Merciful Samaritan' by Rembrandt, the Behem Codex, canvases by Canaletto, and other monuments. Prior to the onset of a period later known as 'deep Stalinism' and the slow descent of the 'iron curtain' across our part of Europe, K. Estreicher was capable of making seven restitution voyages, making it possible for Poland to regain numerous valuable examples of her cultural property. His 'Dzienniki wypadków' (Journals of Events, three volumes dealing with 1939-1966), published twenty years after the death of their author by the Society of Friends of the Fine Arts in Cracow, and containing, i. a. original German documents, inaccessible for years, proved to be a valuable source for preparing this article.

THE MANAGEMENT OF PRIVATE COLLECTIONS IN STATE MUSEUM UPON THE EXEMPLE OF THE PRINCES CZARTORYSKI FOUNDATION (Zarzadzanie zbiorami prywatnymi w panstwowych muzeach na podstawie Fundacji Ksiazat Czartoryskich)

100%

Lewek I.

Muzealnictwo

2005

issue 46

169-181

Changes in the statute of the Princes Czatoryski Foundation were introduced on 22 June 2004. Zofia Golubiew, director of the National Museum in Cracow (Kraków), was replaced as chairman of the Foundation by Prince Adam Zamoyski, a relative of the founder and a resident of London. This change provoked the press to speculate about the suitable functioning of the museum, the need for putting the ownership of the museum buildings into order, the separation of the Czatoryski Museum from the National Museum, unclear legal status, financing museum activity, and the frequent loans of the 'Lady with an Ermine' by Leonardo da Vinci. The presented article includes a statement made by Zofia Golubiew as a representative of the National Museum, and Jolanta Lenkiewicz, head of the Princes Czatoryski Museum and Library. A brief historical outline of the museum answers the question whether the museum is a private institution. For the first time has the reader been offered a clearly formulated thesis claiming that the origin of the Princes Czatoryski Foundation was associated with making it possible for da Vinci's 'Lady with an Ermine' to be loaned for promotion-commercial purposes. The establishment of the Foundation in 1991 sanctioned a number of legal inconsistencies stemming from the fact that the owner of the Czatoryski collection was a public institution (foundation), whose board was entrusted to a private founder while the budget and administration remained in the hands of the state. All the members of the staff of the Princes Czatoryski Museum are employees of the National Museum in Cracow; in June this year the collections and buildings were handed over to the Foundation by their legitimate and only owner, i.e. Adam Karol Czartoryski, founder of the Princes Czartoryski Foundation. At present, the objects and collections continue to be administered by the National Museum, but the chairman of the foundation is Adam Zamoyski, whose opinion remains decisive. The National Museum receives ministry funds for the maintenance and activity of the Czatoryski Museum. Two agreements - on cooperation and deposits - are being negotiated in order to regulate the mutual relations between the National Museum and the Foundation. Bilateral talks about the ultimate form of the agreements are under way. The article ends with reflections about the threats posed to the 'Lady with an Ermine' as a consequence of its frequent transportation. The appendices include an account of the Foundation's activity in 2003 and its current statute.

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2 Muzealnictwo

2 Lewek I.

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1 2004

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THE FIRST RECOVERY JOURNEY OF KAROL ESTREICHER TO THE AMERICAN OCCUPATION ZONE IN GERMANY (Pierwsza podroz rewindykacyjna Karola Estraichera do amerykanskiej strefy okupacyjnej w Niemczech)

THE MANAGEMENT OF PRIVATE COLLECTIONS IN STATE MUSEUM UPON THE EXEMPLE OF THE PRINCES CZARTORYSKI FOUNDATION (Zarzadzanie zbiorami prywatnymi w panstwowych muzeach na podstawie Fundacji Ksiazat Czartoryskich)