A Synoptic View Of The Issue Of The Valuation Of Modern Art. With Reference To The Collection Of The Muzeum Sztuki (Museum Of Art) In Lodz
A Synoptic View Of The Issue Of The Valuation Of Modern Art. With Reference To The Collection Of The Muzeum Sztuki (Museum Of Art) In Lodz

Summary/Abstract: A SYNOPTIC VIEW OF THE ISSUE OF THE VALUATION OF MODERN ART. WITH REFERENCE TO THE COLLECTION OF THE MUSEUM OF ART IN ŁÓDŹ This text analyses three unprecedented and complex groups of ‘artistic collections’ of the collection of the Museum of Art in Łódź. There are: the unique International Collection of the group "revolutionary artists" (the ‘a.r. group’), which was displayed in the Museum in Łódź in 1931 and then took the form of the well-known ‘Neoplastic Room’, a gallery specially created in 1948 to house the International Collection. The second major group of works is the gift of over 800 works by Joseph Beuys, called ‘Polentransport 1981’. The third group of items discussed here is a collection of interdisciplinary works and installations by Tadeusz Kantor - partly in the collection of the museum, and partly in private ownership. They may serve as model collections for understanding the identity of this Museum. They clearly show the artistic values of the collection, chronological changes, differences in the motives behind their creation, and the context in which they were collected. Superimposed on the variety of material, ideological and artistic factors that influence our assessment of the works, there is another dimension - the relativity of assessments and methods of their evaluation, which result from the natural process of emerging new trends in art.These reflections revolve around a series of questions. What values in heritage protection are important for us today and for the future? What processes in museum practice, both curatorial and conservative, influence the formation of these values? What is the reason for the need to constantly update the evaluation of individual works and the artistic, historical and social dimension of creativity within contemporary art? This process develops due to the constant need to update views on the latest visual arts and the forms of their protection, and involving the active participation of artists, consumers, conservators, curators but also takes into account the analysis of the changes within art and its forms. The final question therefore concerns how this process will affect the reading of the present for our times and for the future.The main result of the investigation and interpretation of the history of artistic preservation of the collection at the Museum of Art in Łódź presented above is the discovery of how the values of these collections influenced the changing views on the duties of the conservator and the curator. On the one hand this concerns the protection of the material values of the avant-garde heritage by preserving it as a 'product' (documentation-maintenance-restoration) that is presented to the public. On the other hand it involves, preservation as a ‘process’ implied in the transformation of these collections into works in their own right. Resulting from this is the need to show both the material and non-material values based on artistic and historical context. These activities are supported by the institution's awareness of the importance of the necessity to preserve the artistic integrity of the work and also the artistic collection as a work.These activities of the museum are part of a broad range of conservation procedures to preserve cultural property and are of immense importance for exhibition, educational and promotional practice. As a result, the museum has acquired notable holdings of works and collections, which are its showpiece and which are of great importance to constituting its attractiveness to visitors.

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