2025-04-03
On Wednesday, 2 April, a ceremony was held to hand over a watercolour by Zygmunt Vogel to the collection of the Royal Łazienki Museum. The document confirming the acceptance of the work was signed by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Hanna Wróblewska.
‘View of the Royal Baths from the North’ by Vogel, court painter to King Stanislaw August, was one of the many works looted during World War II. For years, its fate remained unknown until, in 2018, it was found in a private collection abroad and purchased by one of Professor Andrzej Ciechanowiecki's foundations. Thanks to the foundation's cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the work has returned to the Palace on the Isle.
The restitution of the Vogel watercolour is part of the Ministry's extensive efforts to recover lost works of art. Last year, 72 objects were successfully brought back to the country as part of 16 successful restitution cases. Currently, as many as 180 cases are being conducted in 20 countries.
One of the most valuable works recovered is the painting 'Departure for the Hunt' by Józef Brandt. The canvas, which was cut out of its frame and looted during the war, returned to the collections of the Silesian Museum in Katowice at the end of last year.