Paintings from the Potocki Family Collection in Krakow and Krzeszowice

Abstract

The article discusses the paintings once belonging to the collection of the spouses Artur Potocki (1787–1832) and Zofia Potocka, née Branicka (1790–1879), currently residing at the National Museum in Warsaw. The author outlines the three motivations driving the couple’s passion for collecting paintings. The major impulse was the need to enrich life through the presence of fine art, procured in keeping with collecting tendencies of the era. The second motivation arose out of the Enlightened ideas they espoused, absorbed largely as a result of contact with Stanisław Kostka Potocki. The third, though no less significant, motivation was a desire to illustrate common history through portraits, including those of famous individuals, and family history through likenesses of family members: the two spouses, their parents, grandparents, children, grandchildren, relatives and in-laws from the Potocki, Lubomirski and Branicki families. The author emphatically stresses the need for a thorough research catalogue of the collection, one of Poland’s most important collections of old paintings.