PADEREWSKI

Paderewski’s unique personality, amazing erudition and oratorical gift gained him many friends and admirers. He became famous for his musical virtuosity, which opened doors to the most important private salons of the day.

In the company of diplomats, aristocrats and representatives of the intellectual elite, he kept raising and promoting the question of Polish independence. Thanks to his highly developed network of contacts, Paderewski managed to gather an abundant circle of international advocates for the Polish cause.

Through the collection of the National Museum in Warsaw we are able to discover various aspects of the virtuoso, both the well-known – of a celebrated musician, statesman and friend of the greats of the era...

... and the lesser known – of a man on the road, travelling all over the world during his long and exhausting concert tours. A man devoted to his family and a collector of Far Eastern art.

Already as a child, Paderewski exhibited an exceptional talent for music. “When I was three years old, I demonstrated a certain propensity for music. The piano called out to me.”

Many leading musicians played on Steinway pianos, in public performances and at home. The company not only supplied such musicians with instruments, but also organized special concert tours, thus generating recognition for their brand. It proved to be a winning formula. The Steinway stable of artists included Anton Rubinstein, George Gershwin, Cole Porter and Sergei Rachmaninoff, as well as Ignacy Jan Paderewski.

Over the course of his long music career, Paderewski played hundreds of concerts across five continents, in many of the world’s largest performance venues. This photo shows Paderewski aged seventy-three during a performance at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Audiences loved his charismatic playing style and personal manner, and he achieved a level of fame comparable to that of today’s pop stars.

Finding its way into the Museum’s collection was a group of photographs, including pictures from Paderewskis travels, often of a documentary nature, like, for instance, several from a trip to the Whakarewarewa Maori village (Rotorua, New Zealand), in which we see the smiling and relaxed couple wearing the villagers’ traditional fur cloak costume.

The route of the Paderewskis' voyages can be witnessed through the stickers on their travelling trunk.

Of the interesting souvenirs the Paderewskis brought back from their extensive travels, what stands out is a collection of spoons decorated with city coats of arms, resort panoramas and scenes of tourist attractions. The most striking ones were acquired during the Paderewskis’ journeys to the USA, Australia and Canada. They provide us with interesting information about the history and architecture of the relevant cities and countries.

Among the gifts given to Paderewski, we find a present offered to him by the piano company Steinway & Sons – a vase produced by Tiffany & Co., one of America’s biggest jewellers.

The interiors were filled with the master’s many awards – wreathes, diplomas and trophies – as well as with portraits of the family members.

The jewel of the collection was a group of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Chinese vessels decorated with cloisonné enamel, a technique in which a metal surface is decorated with colour glass paste.

It is said that the beginning of Paderewski's public activity is the year 1910 – the 500th anniversary of the defeat of the Teutonic Knights at Grunwald, when he founded the creation of a monument commemorationg the great Polish triumph. At the monument’s grand unveiling, the pianist delivered an impassioned speech underscoring that the piece was the product of love for the homeland, a symbol of Poland’s past glory and a sign of better times ahead. The members of the “Kurek” (Hammer) Riflemen Society in Krakow used the Grunwald Monument motif in their diploma as a reference to the master’s great contribution to the Polish cause. Later, the pianist himself underscored that funding the monument proved to be a turning point in his life, inspiring him to get involved in politics.

During the First World War, the pianist’s social and political involvement revealed another one of his talents – for negotiation and diplomacy. It is said that because of Paderewski’s actions, President Woodrow Wilson made the 13th of his Fourteen Point address state the necessity of creating an independent Polish state.

When Poland returned to the European map in 1918, Paderewski put his musical career aside for a time and, the following year, took on the task of leading the Polish government.

Ignacy Jan Paderewski cannot be summed up in a word – an outstanding musician, diplomat, statesman and fervent patriot, he was also a devoted family man, friend and expert collector. His contribution to Poland’s regained independence cannot be overstated.