NCN Opus Weave: Art Collections of the Central-European Aristocracy, 1795-1939: A Comparative Study

Principal Investigator: Prof. Michał Mencfel

Grant NCN OPUS WEAVE nr 2023/51/I/HS2/00507

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The research project, carried out in cooperation with the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Ljubljana and Masaryk University in Brno, focuses on art collections – galleries of paintings, collections of sculptures, artistic crafts, and classical antiquities - established by representatives of the Central European aristocracy in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The study covers the territory of the Habsburg Monarchy and the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

For the aristocracy – understood here as the highest noble class, distinguished by hereditary titles of prince, count, or baron – the long 19th century was a period of serious challenges arising from profound political, social, and cultural change. We argue that the Central European aristocracy used the traditional instrument of art collecting to redefine and, consequently, strengthen its elite position and role within the rapidly modernising, bureaucratising, and democratising states and societies of this part of the continent.

To justify this claim, we address four main issues: (1) aristocratic collecting in the face of growing nationalist and democratic tendencies; (2) aristocratic collecting after 1918 in the context of reborn and newly formed states; (3) collecting by the old ‘aristocracy of birth’ versus collecting by the new ‘aristocracy of money’; and (4) aristocratic collecting in the ‘age of museums’.

The novelty of the project stems above all from its comparative character. A team of researchers from three academic centres, representing five nationalities, analyses the highly complex and fascinating phenomenon of aristocratic collecting across a vast area of Europe, placing it within a broad political, social, and cultural context. Importantly, in addition to a comparative (synchronic) perspective, the project also adopts a diachronic approach, paying close attention to the dynamics of change in aristocratic collecting.

The results of the research will not only significantly enrich our knowledge of the history of collecting but will also make a valuable contribution to studies of, on the one hand, the history of Central Europe and, on the other, the culture of the European aristocracy at the dawn of modernity.

Conference presentations and lectures

  1. Michał Mencfel, Nothing but Masterworks? Prince Stanisław Poniatowski and his Picture Gallery in Rome, Institute of Historical Research, School of Advanced Study, University of London, 27 October 2025.
  2. Camilla Murgia, A Window for the Public: Selling Print Collections in Europe (1850–1900), conference: Hinc Omnia. Pro Bibliotheca Publica. Private Collections in Public Institutions – Then and Now, Warsaw, 2–3 December 2025.

Publications

In preparation.