In Poland, there are efforts to keep paintings entrusted by Ukraine for safekeeping through courts, - media
In Poland, representatives of the heirs of Prince Andrzej Lubomirski are seeking a court order to block the return to Ukraine of paintings that were evacuated to Poland from Lviv following the start of the full-scale Russian invasion.
This is reported by Rzeczpospolita, according to Censor.NET.
Which paintings are we talking about?
Some of the most valuable paintings, including those from Lviv’s museums, are currently on display at the exhibition ‘The Edge of Europe — from the Treasures of the Lviv Historical Museum’, which is taking place at the Museum of Central Pomerania in Słupsk.
These are two paintings from the former Lubomirski collection: "Portrait of Roksolana" by an unknown 16th-century artist and "Portrait of a Young Man" by Aloysius Reichen from 1850. Their combined value is estimated at 150,000 zlotys (over 1.7 million hryvnias).
Application to the court
A court in Słupsk has received a petition from a representative of a descendant of Prince Lubomirski, identified by the initials B.K., who is seeking an injunction to prevent the return of the museum’s paintings whilst legal proceedings are ongoing. The heir from the family of Andrzej Lubomirski is represented by lawyer Maciej Obrembski.
The Słupsk Museum stated that it received the application on 20 July 2026 and is currently examining the materials provided.
The aim of Prince Lubomirski’s heirs is to ensure that the paintings, which once belonged to the Lubomirski Museum in Lviv, remain within Poland’s current borders.
The plaintiffs believe that the ideal solution would be to transfer the paintings to the care of a Polish institution — for example, the Prince Lubomirski Museum currently being established in Wrocław.
Poland’s Ministry of Culture does not want a scandal
Lawyer Obrembski accuses the court in Słupsk of breaching Article 737 of the Polish Code of Civil Procedure: instead of a one-week deadline and an immediate ban on the removal of the paintings, the museum was given 14 days to respond. He fears a repeat of the 2024 precedent, when, due to delays by the court in Warsaw, the paintings from the ‘Genius of Lviv’ exhibition were urgently returned to Ukraine.
According to Obrembski, the courts are acting on unofficial instructions from the Polish Ministry of Culture to avoid a diplomatic conflict with Ukraine. Sources at Rzeczpospolita note that upholding the claims would cause significant damage to Ukrainian-Polish relations, and the Polish state would still be obliged to return the collection to Lviv.
At the same time, the ministry has denied claims of any instructions being given to the courts. The ministry’s spokesperson, Piotr Jędrzejowski, emphasised that ownership issues are resolved exclusively through the courts in accordance with general rules, and that exhibition organisers are obliged to seek legal protection for movable works of art on their own initiative.
The problem could have been avoided had the Polish museums approached the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage to request that the exhibits be granted ‘museum immunity’ status. This legal mechanism protects foreign exhibits in temporary exhibitions from seizure or confiscation. However, the Royal Castle in Warsaw and the museum in Słupsk did not submit such applications.
