Plakaty z kolekcji leninianów w zbiorach Muzeum Krakowa

Abstract

POSTERS FROM THE LENINIANA COLLECTION IN
THE HOLDINGS OF THE MUSEUM OF KRAKÓW
The paper discusses posters from the Leniniana collection at the Museum of Kraków. Acquired in 1989, following the liquidation of the Lenin Museum in Kraków, the entire collection is currently being stored at the Thesaurus Cracoviensis – Artefacts Interpretation Centre (one of the branches of the Museum of Kraków). The group of posters comprises 1,253 items (1,108 inventory numbers) and, as of today, has not been processed academically to be included in a research catalogue. All of the items have been photographed and numerically ordered. Their photographic representations are currently being added to the digital Musnet catalogue.

Polish posters constitute the vast majority of the collection. The remaining items come mostly from the Soviet Union, as well as other countries of the former Eastern Bloc. The time span of the collection is impressive, ranging from 1917 to 1989, with items dating from the 1970s and 1980s outnumbering the representatives of other decades. The collection contains the works of several outstanding Polish graphic artists, such as Tadeusz Trepkowski, Henryk Tomaszewski, Józef Mroszczak, and Włodzimierz Zakrzewski. The two artists whose works are the most numerous on the list are Mieczysław Szostak and Józef Dynda. The set is divided into seven categories, according to their leading theme: political, social, museum-related, educational, sports-related, theatrical and musical. Political posters constitute over 75 per cent of the collection. The themes they represent include anniversaries of the October Revolution, state holidays such as International Workers’ Day (1 May) and the National Day of the Rebirth of Poland (22 July), as well as celebration of Polish-Soviet friendship, while some of the posters promote Lenin Days organised at the Lenin Museum in Kraków. Future challenges will include the attribution of the over 20 per cent of the works whose authorship remains unknown, and the completion of a research catalogue covering the collection.