By The Polish Museum in Rapperswil
The Polish Museum in Rapperswil
Preface
The Polish Museum in the Swiss town of Rapperswil was established in 1870 upon the initiative of the Polish political emigrants. The main founder of the Museum was Count Władysław Broel-Plater, an insurgent of the November Uprising, who later became a political activist in France and Switzerland. The history of the Museum and its collections gives the Museum a special place among other museums worldwide. Housed in the old Rapperswil Castle which was restored by the Polish expat community, the Museum represents a joint effort of the Polish and Swiss people, an example of the co-existence of two cultures, and a proof that culture may facilitate closer links and understanding between nations. The Polish Museum’s holdings include a collection of old prints, the oldest of them dating back to 1494, a collection of 19th and 20th century painting, a gallery of late 18th century miniatures, collections of prints, militaria, numismatic items, orders and medals, as well as a rich cartographic collection. The Museum owes the nature and great diversity of its collections to its donors – Swiss nationals and Polish emigrants for whom the attachment to the Polish art and culture was a reference point in their new existence away from homeland. In addition to its art collection, the Museum also houses a library and an archive. The library has a large collection of old prints and Polonica. The archive contains the records of the rich history of diplomatic, scientific and economic relations between Poland and Switzerland. It also stores the records of the social life of Poles abroad. Visit the Polish Museum in Rapperswil
St. John (1600/1641) by Domenico Zampieri (1581-1641)?The Polish Museum in Rapperswil
Painting
The painting collection comprises over 700 objects from 16th century until present. The most numerous group consists of the 19th and 20th century paintings, in particular, the works created by the Polish painters in Munich: Józef Brandt, Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski, Józef Chełmoński, Leon Wyczółkowski, Julian Fałat, Wojciech Kossak, Teodor Axentowicz, or Zofia Stryjeńska. Moreover, the collection includes the works of painters who trained in Paris: Olga Boznańska, Józef Czapski, Vlastimil Hofman. An important part of the contemporary art collection are the 75 paintings by Hanna Kala Weynerowska from San Francisco, which were presented to the Museum by the painter herself.
Specially worthy of notice is the collection of 108 miniature paintings from the Dzików Castle, dating from the 18th and 19th centuries. The collection was a gift of Count Artur Tarnowski. It features mainly the works of Polish miniaturists, such as Wincenty Lesseur, a miniature painter at the court of King Stanisław August Poniatowski, and Waleria Tarnowska, but also the pieces by F.G. Remondini and H.F. Füger. The collection contains portraits of historical figures, and miniature copies of masterpieces of European painting.
The majority of works came to the Museum as gifts from the Polish expat community. The Museum received paintings from, among others, Julian Godlewski, Iza Landsberger-Poznańska, Count Artur Tarnowski, Czesław Marek, Grażyna Zawisza, and Hanna Kali Weynerowska.
Three sisters, Countesses Thun von Hohenstein (1792) by Wincenty Lesseur (1745-1813)The Polish Museum in Rapperswil
Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow (1900/1925) by Jan Chełmiński (1851-1925)The Polish Museum in Rapperswil