This is the third museum conservation studio specializing in the conservation of paintings, following those at the MNK Sukiennice and the MNK Czartoryski Museum. It was established in 1995. It currently employs four certified conservators, who primarily care for 19th- and 20th-century Polish artworks housed in the MNK Main Building. Artworks from other Museum departments are also conserved here.
Between 2010 and 2013, the workshop carried out a series of important conservation projects on works intended for the newly arranged Gallery in the MNK Sukiennice. Among others, the following works were restored: Landscape with a Haystack, Hay Cart, Lupine Field, and Wolfhounds by Władysław Podkowiński; Susanna and the Elders by Franciszek Żmurka; Christmas Eve in Siberia by Jacek Malczewski; and The Battle of Zborów by Jan Piotr Norblin.
In addition to its day-to-day activities, the studio undertakes comprehensive conservation of groups of paintings by a single artist, such as Zbigniew Pronaszka, Alfons Karpiński, Jacek Malczewski, Leon Wyczółkowski, or Witkacy. These projects are often linked to monographic exhibitions. An example is the conservation of approximately fifty works by Olga Boznańska carried out between 2000 and 2004 for an exhibition planned at that time. Many of her paintings had not been exhibited since their acquisition by the National Museum in Kraków due to their poor condition. During the work, a method was used to clean the powdered paint layer while simultaneously impregnating it, and a putty composition suitable for the cardboard substrate was also developed to fill large areas of loss in the support. Thanks to these conservation treatments, the technical condition of the paintings was improved and their aesthetic qualities were restored, making them suitable for display.
Since 2010, the Studio’s activities have focused on conservation work on approximately twenty paintings by Olga Boznańska from the collection of the National Museum in Kraków, including: Girl with Chrysanthemums, Flower Girls, Portrait of Miss Deuringer, Portrait of Feliks Jasieński, Portrait of Henryk Sienkiewicz, and Portrait of Mrs. Bankiewicz.
The workshop also conducts work in the field of preventive conservation. To maintain appropriate storage and display conditions, constant monitoring of climate and lighting conditions is conducted in the galleries and storage areas; conservators supervise the packing and transport of museum objects, prepare descriptions, and inspect the condition of loaned objects, and oversee temporary exhibitions organized in the MNK Main Building.
+48 012 433-55-81
