Piotr Borusowski at CODART 26 скачать в хорошем качестве

Piotr Borusowski at CODART 26

After the outbreak of World War II, occupying Nazi forces systematically “researched” Polish public and private collections, seizing art considered valuable for its material and cultural significance. Objects deemed less valuable were often destroyed as symbols of Polish identity. The impact of the war on Polish museums, however, went far beyond immediate looting and destruction. The post-war Potsdam Conference brought dramatic border changes, resulting in Poland’s loss of vast eastern territories, while former German territories to the west and north were incorporated into Poland. Consequently, all movable assets east of the Oder and Neisse rivers became Polish state property. Today, curators at Polish museums, including the National Museum in Warsaw, face complex provenance research tasks. These often involve collections once belonging to German institutions, which bring a unique set of challenges and ethical considerations. The National Museum in Warsaw, with its extensive and diverse collection, exemplifies these challenges and showcases the strategies and research approaches currently employed to address them.