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)

• Authors: Lewek Izabela
• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

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.

Keywords

EN

PRINCES CZARTORYSKI FOUNDATION; PRIVATE COLLECTIONS IN STATE MUSEUM

Discipline

• ARTS_&_ARCHITECTURE: ARTS & ARCHITECTURE

• Publisher: Krajowy Ośrodek Badań i Dokumentacji Zabytków
• Journal: Muzealnictwo
• Year: 2005
• Issue: 46
• Pages: 169-181
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Lewek Izabela

• Izabela Lewek, for postal address contact the journal editor

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

09PLAAAA066713