Badania sztuki ziem wschodnich dawnej Rzeczypospolitej po 1989 roku

In this paper the author outlines and describes the proposals and dynamics of research on the art of the eastern territories of the former Commonwealth conducted after 1989 – namely Red Ruthenia and Podolia, the lands lost by Poland in 1945 to the USSR (and now within the limits of Ukraine). Two academic centres dominated in this field: the Institute of Art History of the Jagiellonian University in Cracow and Warsaw’s Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences and Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University. Extensive inventory work undertaken from 1992 resulted in the monumental publication “Materials for the History of Religious Art in the former Eastern Territories” (ed. by Jan Ostrowski) including a monographic study of Roman Catholic churches and monasteries in the former Ruthenian, Novogrodek and Vilnius Voivodeships. The magnitude of this multi-volume publication can only be compared to the monumental “Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland”, published a century earlier. The present article also includes projects undertaken by other academic centres (primarily inventory work of sepulchral art, as well as numerous other publications, maliny conference proceedings). The role of material research in the field of “first art history” has proven to be very inspiring. Eastern studies have led to many spectacular discoveries and introduced new scholarly material, significantly contributing to the knowledge of Polish art history - mainly in modern art, but also applicable to the artistic heritage of the 19th century and the inter-war period, particularly architecture. An important consequence of the “eastern” inventory work is the training of a new set of art historians (a whole generation even), specialized in the field of inventory and archival research.