Iwona Danielewicz, French Paintings from the 16th to 20th Century in the Collection of the National Museum in Warsaw. Complete Illustrated Catalogue Raisonné, translated by Karolina Koriat, graphic design by Janusz Górski, 428 pages, ill., The National Museum in Warsaw, Warsaw 2019, ISBN 978-83-7100-437-7

 

The English-language catalogue raisonné of French paintings from the collection of the National Museum in Warsaw is an oeuvre crowning the years of research of curator Iwona Danielewicz, who also provided her work with a greatly insightful introduction. The major part of the catalogue covers attributed paintings arranged in an alphabetical order, and is completed with a smaller part dedicated to chronologically ordered unattributed works. The catalogue is concluded with an extensive bibliography and index of persons portrayed. Each catalogue entry comprises a reproduction of the work, detailed provenance as well as complete literature and a description. The publication contains reproductions of all the works regardless of their state of preservation – with certain pictures offering a glimpse from “conservator’s behind-the-scenes”: losses, obliterated paint layer, repairs. 

 

This is the second publication in the editorial series initiated by Hanna Benesz’s and Maria Kluk’s catalogue: Early Netherlandish, Dutch, Flemish and Belgian Paintings 1494–1983.