My journey with Ignacy Jan Paderewski began in 1985. I was in my kitchen making dinner when the most beautiful music came on the radio. I stopped, sat down and listened. It was Paderewski's Piano Concerto in A Minor.

I was familiar with Paderewski's name, but that was all. I immediately went to the San Francisco Library and borrowed The Paderewski Memoirs and Paderewski as I Knew Him by Aniela Strakacz. After reading about this amazing man, I began buying CDs of his performances and compositions and decided to try to find an autographed photo of him. After contacting several manuscript dealers in the Bay Area, I found my photo. It was Paderewski's debut photo by London Stereoscopic Co., 1891 and was signed "With every good wish, I. J. Paderewski".

Soon after, I was notified that two private collections were available. Included were letters from Hugo Goerlitz, Paderewski's manager for his early American tours, handwritten programmes for private concerts, formal concert programmes, letters to and from Paderewski, and photos signed and unsigned. It was a treasure trove!

Now, almost twenty years later, I have slowly acquired a quite beautiful and historically thorough collection. My earliest piece is a cabinet photo from 1878 when he was only 18 years of age. The collection includes concert programmes form all of his twenty American tours, many programmes from Europe, South America, and Australia, dozens of letters from Paderewski to other composers, performers and conductors as well as personal friends and family. There are signed musical quotes from most of his compositions including one from Manru.

There are dozens of photographs and paintings by both amateurs and professionals. One of my favorites is a 1918 photo taken by Arnold Genthe for Vanity Fair Magazine. It is signed by both Paderewski and Genthe. There are also numerous cabinet photos from all periods of his life, inscribed, signed and some with musical quotes. One great original watercolor I am honored to have is of Paderewski and the Italian poet, Gabriel D'Annunzio by Max Beerbohm. A photo of it is in Adam Zamoyski's biography, Paderewski. An amusing piece is a caricature of Paderewski done in 1931 by the famous band leader, Xavier Cugat, who had been taught the art of caricature by his friend, Enrico Caruso. It is a very simple yet bold black and white drawing in the Art Deco style.

The collection also contains a large formal portrait of Paderewski as a statesman by an American painter and many other works, small and large, by amateur painters. One that is very special to me is an oil painting by an unknown artist. It is based on the famous etching by Sir Edward Burne-Jones who referred to Paderewski as "My Archangel!". The hair is wonderfully red, the eyes a piercing blue and the features strongly defined. I saw the painting on a television show hanging as scenery. I phoned the show's set designer who helped me contact the owner in Los Angeles. I spoke with a lovely gentleman and explained to him what the picture was and my interest in it. He took my name and address and said the he would "see what he could do". A week later, a package was delivered to my door. Inside was the beautifully framed painting with a note from the man saying that he felt that the painting should be part of the collection. What a kind and generous surprise!

A truly wondrous find is a tin toy from the 1890s. It was made in Paris and shows Paderewski sitting at a black upright piano with sheet music and little candelabras on the front. His hair is full and blonde (faded by the passing years); he is wearing a black frock coat, dark pants and wonderful little pointed toe black boots. When the toy is wound up, Paderewski moves from side to side, his arms moving up and down the keyboard, playing a lovely little tune. The base of the toy is a faded gold and red tapestry carpet also made of tin. This toy is also referred to in Zamoyski's book and it took me seven years to find it! It was in a large antique toy auction in Atlanta, Georgia! Children love it, but in its fine condition it has obviously been well-loved and cared for over the past one hundred years.

There are many unusual items such as an autographed menu from Delmonico's, a celebrity restaurant in New York City, sheet music of popular songs written about Paderewski such as The Paderewski Rag which is based on the Minuet in G set to a ragtime beat. I have advertisements, buttons, coins, newspaper clippings, marble and bronze statues of all sizes and a music box purchased in Geneva, Switzerland in 1990 which plays the Minuet. A special member of the collection is Jan, one of Mme Paderewska's dolls which were made by Polish refugees in Paris and sold to raise funds for Polish relief during World War I. Jan is about 18" long, wearing shorts, a shirt, little boots with a straw hat.

One very historically significant piece in the collection is the original letter dated February 4, 1941 in which Franklin Delano Roosevelt refers to Paderewski as a modern immortal. It is typed on White House stationery and signed by President Roosevelt.
In putting the collection together, I have made it a point to include items (books, letters, drawings, photos) from and about his family, friends, and fellow musicians, over a hundred books in many languages on Polish history, the World Wars, life during that time period in Europe and America, and a look at artists and politicians of the time. These include such contemporaries as Ernest Schelling, Mark Twain, Helena Modjeska, Anton Rubinstein, Fritz Kreisler, the Steinway family, and some of the royal families of Europe. I have also included material that depicts his life from Podolia, Warsaw, Vienna, Paris, Morges, Switzerland, Paso Robles, California and New York as fully as possible - from the musician to the statesman to the great humanitarian to the man himself who endured so many difficult struggles, both public and private, and yet managed to remain a strong inspirational figure to Poland and a shining example to the rest of the world.

I have been fortunate to be able to exhibit this biographical style collection at the San Francisco Performing Arts Library and Museum and several of the Paderewski Festivals in Paso Robles. I still add items as I find them and I am always stunned to find things that I have never seen before - including a sign from a Warsaw trolley car on the "Paderewski Line" or information about a ship called the I.J. Paderewski which was built for use during World War II.

I do not feel that this is "my" collection. I call it "the collection" or "our collection" because I feel that I am just finding certain pieces of the story of his life and putting them together for future generations to see and wonder at the greatness that was and is Paderewski. For now, I am just the caretaker.

Christine Smith
California, USA