In the process of preservation of paper artifacts, such as watercolour, gouache or pastel, the usage of water and other solvents is generally avoided. This represents a significant obstacle, which specifically relates to the elimination of acidic paper substrate. The article presents the outcome of our research on the use of Bookkeeper’s deacidification method to preserve this type of objects. Perfluoroheptane organic liquid, which is neutral to inks, dyes and other substances that are sensitive to water and other solvents, is used as a carrier in the deacidification substance – magnesium oxide. It does not cause physical changes in the paper, typical for water treatment – cut and deformed sheets. The article shows the results obtained during the deacidification of eight watercolours and three pastels. The tests, which were continued as the basis previous studies, during which the impact of this method of deacidification on the colour stability of a model watercolour painting was examined, were prepared for two types of securities. The researches came to the conclusion expressed in the article that Bookkeeper deacidification method carried out on the verso is completely safe for the objects and does not cause significant changes in the layer of paint colours.
Krótki komunikat na temat zespołu akwarel Leonarda Pękalskiego (1896-1944) przedstawiających Grójec, miasto urodzenia artysty. Brief announcement relevant to Leonard Pękalski’s water-colours paintings depicting Grójec – the place of artist’s birth.
The history of Norwid’s visual works still has numerous secrets, which is not strange considering the fact that the approximate proportion of the number of the surviving works and ones that are lost is 3:2, with the overall number of the works that can be ascribed to the author of Solo a little exceeding two thousand. The awareness of the fact that there may be unknown works whose number cannot be estimated, but there is no doubt that they additionally broaden the area of the terra incognita in the world of Norwid’s pictures, still makes the problem more difficult. The article presents four unknown up till now visual works by Norwid that appeared on the world market of works of art in recent years. These are: three drawings – A Portrait of a Bearded Man, A View of an Interior with a Child, a sketch A Man Putting Up Posters and one water color entitled Pythia, that is an extraordinary example of a carefully touched up composition with sensu stricto artistic values. The presentation is accompanied by an attempt to locate the mentioned pictures on the map of Norwid’s visual works.
The history of Norwid’s visual works still has numerous secrets, which is not strange considering the fact that the approximate proportion of the number of the surviving works and ones that are lost is 3:2, with the overall number of the works that can be ascribed to the author of Solo a little exceeding two thousand. The awareness of the fact that there may be unknown works whose number cannot be estimated, but there is no doubt that they additionally broaden the area of the terra incognita in the world of Norwid’s pictures, still makes the problem more difficult. The article presents four unknown up till now visual works by Norwid that appeared on the world market of works of art in recent years. These are: three drawings – A Portrait of a Bearded Man, A View of an Interior with a Child, a sketch A Man Putting Up Posters and one water color entitled Pythia, that is an extraordinary example of a carefully touched up composition with sensu stricto artistic values. The presentation is accompanied by an attempt to locate the mentioned pictures on the map of Norwid’s visual works.
The article presents and discusses the unknown watercolour of Cyprian Norwid „Castra Annibalis” from 1850, which represents the Carthaginian military camp from the times of the Second Punic War. The watercolour was exhibited in 1947 in the Museum of the Greater Poland in Poznan at the exhibition organised for the 125th anniversary of the birth of Norwid. At that time, the owner of the piece swas the historian of Polish literature, professor Roman Pollak.
PL
Artykuł przynosi prezentację oraz omówienie nieznanej akwareli Cypriana Norwida Castra Annibalis z r. 1850, przedstawiającej obóz kartagińskich wojsk z czasów drugiej wojny punickiej. Akwarela eksponowana była w 1947 r. w Muzeum Wielkopolskim w Poznaniu na wystawie zorganizowanej w 125. rocznicę urodzin Norwida. Ówczesnym właścicielem obiektu był historyk literatury polskiej prof. Roman Pollak.
Artykuł prezentuje odnaleziony w zabiorach Archiwum Narodowego w Krakowie list Zygmunta Vogla (1764-1826), przyszłego akwarelisty, do króla Stanisława Augusta. Pismo, pochodzące z roku 1786, jest wielce interesujące, gdyż przynosi garść nieznanych, a nawet zaskakujących informacji do biografii tego ważnego artysty, wskazuje też – jak się zdaje – kluczowy moment w jego życiu. Okazuje się, że już wtedy miał on kłopoty ze wzrokiem i prosił króla o wyrażenie zgody na opuszczenie Malarni zamkowej, gdzie się kształcił, i wcielenie do korpusu inżynierów wojsk koronnych. Zainteresowanie Vogla zagadnieniami inżynieryjnymi wynikło z jego wcześniejszych kontaktów z Christianem Gottfriedem Deyblem von Hammerau, oficerem w korpusie pontonierów, oraz Janem Ferdynandem Naxem, budowniczym królewskim, zajmującym się spławnością polskich rzek, którzy wystąpili w roli nauczycieli architektury cywilnej i wojskowej. Suplika nie została spełniona, gdyż monarcha, doceniając wrodzony talent i zdobyte umiejętności malarskie, odwiódł go od tego zamiaru, wsparł wypłacaną co miesiąc pensją, a wkrótce – po swoim powrocie z podróży do Kaniowa w roku 1787 – zatrudnił do utrwalania w akwarelowych widokach architektonicznych pomników narodowej przeszłości, z czego Vogel wywiązał się znakomicie i został mianowany królewskim „rysownikiem gabinetowym”. W spisanej przez malarza po latach autobiografii pojawił się obraz „najważniejszej chwili” w jego życiu – przypadkowej rozmowy ze Stanisławem Augustem, który wziąwszy młodzieńca pod swoją opiekę, pokierował dalszymi jego losami. Publikowany list do króla dowodzi jednak pewnej mistyfikacji popełnionej przez Vogla, monarsze zainteresowanie nie było bowiem zupełnie przypadkowe, lecz zostało sprowokowane wystosowaną do tronu petycją.
EN
The article presents a letter from Zygmunt Vogel (1764-1826), a future watercolorist, to King Stanisław August, found in the collection of the National Archives in Cracow. The letter, written in 1786, is very interesting, because it provides a handful of new and unexpected facts to the biography of this important artist, it also indicates – as it seems – the key moment in his life. It turns out that at that time he suffered vision problems and asked the king for permission to leave the Castle Art Workshop, where he was educated, and incorporate him into the corps of the Crown Army engineers. Vogel’s interest in engineering issues stemmed from his previous contacts with Christian Gottfried Deybel von Hammerau, an officer in the pontooner corps, and Jan Ferdynand Nax, a royal builder, dealing with the navigability of Polish rivers, who appeared as teachers of civil and military architecture. The supplication was not acquiesced, because the monarch, appreciating his inherent talent and acquired painting skills, dissuaded him from doing so, supported him with a monthly salary, and soon – after his return from a trip to Kaniów in 1787 – hired him to preserve the architectural monuments of the national past in watercolor vedutas. Vogel did it perfectly and was appointed the royal “cabinet draftsman.” In the autobiography, written by the painter, an image of “the most important moment” in his life appeared – an accidental conversation with Stanisław August who, giving his patronage to the young man, guided him. However, the published letter to the king proves a certain hoax perpetrated by Vogel. The monarch’s interest was not completely accidental, but was provoked by a petition addressed to him.