We talked about the Zachęta’s collection already in the eighth issue of our online magazine. In the latest, fourteenth issue, we revisit the subject of collecting, although this time not only with an eye on our collection. We were prompted by the major renovation of the Zachęta’s art storerooms. This is a real opportunity for anyone who would like to take a look “behind the scenes” of our gallery – for the next year, the works from the collection will be stored in the lower exhibition halls, where a specially arranged temporary storeroom will be created. At the same time, in the Small Salon, we will present the Zachęta’s collection curated by Michał Jachuła. You will be able to see the first exhibition titled Live storerooms: Artibus already from the beginning of October. And now let us walk you through different versions of a number of collections that have been displayed at the Zachęta.
We will begin by talking to the co-authors of the ING Polish Art Foundation collection: Aneta Prasał-Wiśniewska, Magda Kochanowska, Maria Rubersz, and Kamila Bondar. This is one of the first Polish corporate collections that has been associated with the Zachęta since its inception. We conducted this interview in 2015 on the occasion of the exhibition Art in Our Age. Rafał Dominik and Szymon Żydek and the Collections of Zachęta – the National Gallery of Art and the ING Polish Art Foundation organized to celebrate the Foundation’s 15th anniversary. We also revisit this exhibition by means of an audio guide prepared by its curators.
The current collection (created since the beginning of the 1990s) is historically the Zachęta’s third collection. The original collection of the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts (SEFA) – featuring Jan Matejko’s Battle of Grunwald – was nationalized and handed over the National Museum in Warsaw in 1945. In our online magazine we showcase Edward Krasiński’s Installation, prepared specially for the artist’s monographic exhibition in 1997. Eleven black and white replicas of the Polish painting classics, part of the SEFA collection before WWII, were tied with blue adhesive tape that is, as characteristic of Krasiński, always placed at the level of 130 cm above the floor.
We also recall materials related to the exhibitions held in the last several years that draw on our collection: photographic documentation of the exhibition TRUTH BEAUTY GOODNESS presented in the Raczyński’s house, talk by art restorer Dorota Nowak about the restoring of Andrzej Wróblewski’s works (Before, After and In Between. Decision-making in Contemporary Art Restoration) and Piotr Słodkowski’s lecture Thaw and Modernizing Art accompanying the exhibition Very Diverse and Very Exquisite. Graphics from the Collection of Zachęta.
Finally, we go back to the 1968 Exhibition of Contemporary French Painting. Karolina Zychowicz writes: “The exhibition was in line with the assumptions of the cultural policy of French Minister André Malraux and was organised by Création Artistique. On 8 February 1963, Malraux appointed a commission for the arts, which encompassed painters — André Beaudin and Jean Bazaine (whose works were shown at the exhibition in Warsaw), as well as André Chastel, Jean Lescure, François Mathey and Jean Paulhan. They were to comment on purchases and commissioning of artworks, tapestry designs and stained glass, furniture designs and public building decoration projects”.
Enjoy your reading, listening, and watching.
In the 14th issue of our magazine, we talk about collecting. We start with the ING collection and an interview conducted on the occasion of the Art in Our Age exhibition.
