P for Painting („M jak Malarstwo”) is one of the responsible business strategy projects run by mBank. As part of the project, we sold classical artworks in order to build an exceptional modern art collection. This way, mBank revitalises Poland’s art market to make it more welcoming for emerging artists.
In 2020, we auctioned more than 150 artworks via the DESA Unicum auction house, thus injecting a 7-digit sum into the “P for Painting” fund. The artworks included Józef Brandt’s “Pospolite ruszenie u Brodu” and Igor Mitoraj’s “Ikaria”, a famous sculpture being currently the artist’s most expensive artwork.
We are assembling a collection comprising artworks of the most interesting and promising young artists. The artworks are selected on behalf of mBank by a committee boarded by renowned representatives of the modern art market and the fund’s representative.
When selecting works to be purchased, the committee will be guided by both their artistic worth and prospective valuation in the longer term. The collection will comprise selected paintings made in various techniques (hence the name of the programme). It will include both single artworks from individual artists, and larger collections.
We will present the first artworks from the new collection in 2021.
It is fair to say that our collection will undergo a generational change. The sale of masterpieces of the old masters will support their younger colleagues. In the hard times of the pandemic it is especially important. The fund is our original idea which suits well to the modern and forward-looking mBank’s brand. We want our fund to invest in artists with potential. This is why the selection will be supervised by the purchasing committee composed of people who have been involved with the world of modern art for many years. Thus, we will be sure that after some time our collection will serve as a bridge for the next generation of artists and the fund will operate as a perpetuum mobile supporting young artists.Cezary Stypułkowski President of the Management Board