Muzeum Narodowe jak Met, czyli o współczesnym znaczeniu badań proweniencyjnych
The National Museum as the Met, or on the Contemporary Significance of Provenance Studies

Summary/Abstract: This article – by referring to numerous and celebrated examples – discusses the growing significance of provenance studies within the activity pursued by museums all over the world. The author indicates their specific foundations and research instruments, as well as ethical and legal premises. In doing so she presents the emergent evolution due to which provenance studies have become today an indicator of the social mission conducted by museums. A thus outlined background developed into a point of departure for an analysis of the case of Polish museums. The article indicates serious negligence within this range and proposes a thesis claiming that this is the reason for an immense and increasing hiatus not solely between the praxis of Polish museums and world institutions but also between the awareness and sensitivity of Polish and global researchers and curators Moreover, the article possesses also a postulative character: it indicates the path of introducing a thought out, complex, and consistent policy of provenance studies without which Polish institutions will increasingly diverge from the contemporary model of museology based on historical and social sensitivity, ethics, cooperation, and trust.

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