English Section

Polish art museum to house part of Richard Demarco’s collection

16.07.2025 14:30
The Museum of Art in Łódź, central Poland, is set to become home to part of the vast collection and archive amassed by veteran Scottish arts impresario Richard Demarco.
The Łódź Museum of Art at 36 Więckowskiego Street is housed in a historic neo-Renaissance palace built by 19th-century cotton magnate Izrael Poznański for his son Maurycya proud symbol of the citys post-industrial heritage.
The Łódź Museum of Art at 36 Więckowskiego Street is housed in a historic neo-Renaissance palace built by 19th-century cotton magnate Izrael Poznański for his son Maurycy—a proud symbol of the city's post-industrial heritage.Photo: Ainka, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

The holdings includes more than 1,300 works of art, alongside photographs, catalogues, audio recordings, press cuttings, posters, films and correspondence with artists.

Among the featured artists are acclaimed figures such as Magdalena Abakanowicz, Tadeusz Kantor, Joseph Beuys, Pat Douthwaite and Daniel Spoerri, whose works will now be brought to Poland.

"The collection will document Demarco’s contribution to the development of conceptual art and open new perspectives for research into the history of contemporary art," the Łódź museum said in a statement.

Demarco, who turned 95 this month, is an artist, impresario and promoter of contemporary art. He has long fostered cultural ties with Poland, starting with his invitation to Kantor’s Cricot 2 theatre troupe to perform at the Edinburgh Festival in the 1970s.

He has made about 50 visits to Poland and has been showered with awards including the Gold Gloria Artis Medal for Merit to Polish Culture and an honorary doctorate from the Academy of Fine Arts in the southwestern city of Wrocław.

The collection must relocate from its current base at Summerhall in Edinburgh because of the venue going up for sale.

In addition to the Łódź museum, a second new home for the collection will be Papple Steading in East Lothian—a cultural hub and farm development owned by Scottish entrepreneur George Mackintosh and his wife, Eriadne.

Speaking to The Scotsman newspaper, Daniel Muzyczuk, director of the Museum of Art in Łódź, called Demarco a "visionary curator" whose life has been "deeply intertwined with Polish art and culture" and who has been "a passionate advocate for Polish artists, tirelessly introducing their work to audiences across the UK and Europe."

Muzyczuk added that "Demarco’s commitment to fostering cultural exchange has opened doors" for generations of Polish painters, sculptors and performance artists.

(mk/gs)