The collection of historical photographs in the MNK’s holdings comprises around 100,000 Polish and foreign items dating from 1850 to 1945. It consists of two main groups: photographs and reproductions. The photographs are predominantly prints, but there are also negatives, daguerreotypes and individual prints on metal, leather and oilcloth. The photographers represented include some of the most famous names, such as Karol Beyer, Michał Greim, Ignacy Krieger and Walery Rzewuski. This rich and diverse collection includes, amongst other things, portraits of well-known figures and documentation of works of art: architecture, painting, sculpture and decorative arts. It also contains archival photographs depicting the interiors and buildings of the branches of the National Museum in Kraków. Among the most valuable holdings is a collection of portraits produced using the earliest photographic techniques: daguerreotype, ambrotype, ferrotype and pannotype. The nucleus of this collection was a donation from Władysław Mickiewicz, who presented the Museum with, amongst other items, daguerreotype portraits of Andrzej Towiański and Adam Mickiewicz, as well as a partially coloured daguerreotype depicting Celina Mickiewicz (née Szymanowska). When listing the most valuable artefacts of the Old Photography Department, it is worth mentioning some of the oldest photographs of Kraków, taken by Karol Beyer and Melecjusz Dutkiewicz in 1859 (the National Museum in Kraków is the only institution in Poland to possess the full set of 12 views), as well as the collection of 19th-century photographic albums. The most prominent item in the latter is the album of Jadwiga Łuszczewska-Deotymy, which, retaining its original sequence, contains portraits of friends and regulars at the ‘literary Thursdays’ organised by the novelist. Also of great value are the albums containing portraits of insurgents who fought in the Hungarian and January Uprisings.
The reproductions are taken from magazines published in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and include some exquisite heliogravures. A separate category is the collection of postcards, numbering over 6,000 items. Reproductions predominate, whilst there are far fewer postcards in the form of photographic prints, bearing stamps and correspondence.
Head of Department: Magdalena Święch mswiech@mnk.pl
