The Museum of John Paul II Collection ( pl, Muzeum Kolekcji im. Jana Pawła II) in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, also known as the Porczyński Gallery or Carroll-Porczyński Collection, is a museum dedicated to its painting collection, which is housed in the building of the former stock exchange and

National Bank In banking, the term national bank carries several meanings: * a bank owned by the state * an ordinary private bank which operates nationally (as opposed to regionally or locally or even internationally) * in the United States, an ordinary p ...

. It is considered one of the finest collections of European art in Warsaw. The collection includes around 400 exhibits, mainly Old Masters and the

Impressionists Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...

, along with some copies of masterpieces of European painting.

History

Pope John Paul II with Janina and Zbigniew Karol Porczynski

Zbigniew and Janina Porczyński have been amassing the collection since 1981. In the first three years, the couple concentrated on adding paintings with biblical themes but later portraits and impressionistic works were added. In 1986 the couple transferred about 400 exhibits to the

Archdiocese of Warsaw The Archdiocese of Warsaw is a Catholic ecclesiastical territory or diocese in Poland encompassing the Polish capital. It was erected on October 16, 1798. It was elevated to an Archdiocese on June 30, 1813. A Metropolitan See, its suffragan di ...

and the Polish nation and created a foundation to supervise the collection. The first part of the collection was displayed publicly on 5 November 1987 at the Museum of the Warsaw archdiocese (Muzeum Archidiecezji Warszawskiej) at Solec Street. The second part was displayed from 14 September to 30 December 1988. In 1989 the beneficiaries of the foundation, the Primate of Poland and the Polish Arts and Culture Ministry, decided to create a museum to provide a permanent display of the collection. The city of Warsaw provided the collection with a permanent home in a building designed by

Antonio Corazzi Antonio Corazzi (born 16 December 1792 in Livorno, died April 27 1877 in Florence) was an Italian architect working in Poland from 1819 to 1847, mainly in Neoclassical architecture, Neoclassical style. Biography Antonio Corazzi was the son o ...

in 1825 - the former stock exchange rebuilt after the Second World War destruction.

Criticism

Since 1987 various art experts put in doubt the authenticity of many important works in the collection. The Polish art historians Mieczysław Morka and Waldemar Łysiak contributed several times to this criticism. A painting signed by

Alfred Sisley Alfred Sisley (; ; 30 October 1839 – 29 January 1899) was an Impressionist landscape painter who was born and spent most of his life in France, but retained British citizenship. He was the most consistent of the Impressionists in his dedicatio ...

(''River landscape'') is a forgery by Tom Keating. Apart from forgery allegations and unclear financing of the foundation by the public sector, some other activities of the foundation were criticized (the organization of commercial events in the museum premises).

Collection

The collection is displayed in eight rooms and arranged thematically: Impressionists, mythology and allegory, portraits and self-portraits (in the two-story hall "Rotunda"), mothers and children, effigies of the Madonna and Child, biblical themes, still lifes and landscapes (in the gallery) and a room dedicated to the monumental painting ''Baptism of Lithuania'' (1889) by

Wojciech Gerson Wojciech Gerson (; July 1, 1831 – February 25, 1901) was a leading Polish painter of the mid-19th century, and one of the foremost representatives of the Polish school of Realism during the foreign Partitions of Poland. He served as long-time ...

. The majority of the collection consists of works by British, Dutch, Early Netherlandish, Flemish, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Swiss Old Masters, their pupils and followers. Among the artists represented are

Paris Bordone Paris Bordone (Paris Paschalinus Bordone; 5 July 1500 – 19 January 1571) was an Italian painter of the Venetian Renaissance who, despite training with Titian, maintained a strand of Mannerist complexity and provincial vigor. Biography Bord ...

, Cornelis van Haarlem,

José de Ribera Jusepe de Ribera (1591 – 1652) was a painter and printmaker, who along with Francisco de Zurbarán, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, and the singular Diego Velázquez, are regarded as the major artists of Spanish Baroque painting. Referring ...

William-Adolphe Bouguereau William-Adolphe Bouguereau (; 30 November 1825 – 19 August 1905) was a French academic painter. In his realistic genre paintings, he used mythological themes, making modern interpretations of classical subjects, with an emphasis on the female ...

, Pierre-Auguste Renoir,

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...

and a significant collection of paintings by Swiss painter Fritz Zuber-Bühler.

Sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...

is represented with bronze casts of ''Jupiter and the eagle'' by

Julien Dillens Julien Dillens (8 June 1849 – 24 December 1904) was a Belgian sculptor born in Antwerp, the son of the painter Hendrick Joseph Dillens. Biography Dillens studied under Eugène Simonis at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts. In 1877 he receive ...

, the ''Head of Saint John the Baptist'' by Auguste Rodin and the ''Unicorn'' by

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarre images in ...

. File:Van Gogh Farm in Hoogeveen.jpg, ''

Farmhouses Among Trees ''Farmhouses Among Trees'' is an oil painting created by Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh in September 1883. The painting is exhibited in the Museum of John Paul II Collection in Warsaw. See also *List of works by Vincent van Gogh List of work ...

'' (1883),

File:Renoir Cauliflower and pomegranates.jpg, ''Cauliflower and Pomegranates'' (c. 1890), Pierre-Auguste RenoirOne of the most valuable and undisputed paintings in the collection, originally in the collection of Galerie Nichido in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

. File:Dürer Virgin and Child.jpg, ''Virgin and Child with Saint Anne'', Albrecht Dürer File:Pontormo Virgin and Child.jpg, ''Virgin and Child'',

Jacopo Pontormo Jacopo Carucci (May 24, 1494 – January 2, 1557), usually known as ''Jacopo da Pontormo'', ''Jacopo Pontormo'', or simply Pontormo, was an Italian Mannerist painter and portraitist from the Florentine School. His work represents a profound sty ...

File:Bordone Daphnis and Chloe.jpg, ''Daphnis and Chloe'',

File:Haarlem Nailing to the Cross.jpg, ''Nailing to the Cross'', Cornelis van Haarlem File:Vos Portrait of mother and daughter.JPG, ''Portrait of Mother and Daughter'', Cornelis de Vos File:Ribera Philosopher.jpg, ''A Philosopher'',

File:Constable Donkeys in the stable.JPG, ''Donkeys in the Stable'', John Constable File:Gerome Egyptian water carrier.jpg, ''Egyptian Water Carrier'',

Jean-Léon Gérôme Jean-Léon Gérôme (11 May 1824 – 10 January 1904) was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as academicism. His paintings were so widely reproduced that he was "arguably the world's most famous living artist by 1880." The ra ...

File:Bouguereau Venus and Cupid.jpg, ''Venus and Cupid'',

File:Garreta Girl in pink dress.jpg, ''Portrait of a Young Girl in Pink Dress'', Raimundo de Madrazo y Garreta

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:John Paul Ii Collection Museum Museums in Warsaw Art museums established in 1986 Pope John Paul II Art museums and galleries in Poland 1986 establishments in Poland