Henryk Grohman (1862-1939) a factory owner of German origin, collector and patron of arts was the owner of the villa which is now the home of the Book Art Museum. On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of his birth BAM published an artists’ book “Henryk Grohman: A Patron of Arts and Collector”.

We made his villa the home of the Museum because it was abandoned, it looked similar to many other factory buildings from that time, seemed big enough for our needs, and it was inside a small park. The villa’s interior design and history proved the decision was correct as such a venue should be devoted to the public and the promotion of art. The beginning of the 1990s marked the collapse of the cotton industry in Łódź. BAM protected Grohman's villa from being vandalized at the very last moment. Since then the villa has been registered as a historical monument in the so called “white book”. Unfortunately, the Museum can only halt the destruction and keep it in the poor condition one would expect of a one hundred year-old villa while making only most necessary repairs. The estate is encumbered with the debts of a bankrupt state company, and now is in a vicious cycle of endless trials and administration procedures which make the necessary renovations and adaptations impossible. But the twenty year-long process of determining the property ownership seems to be nearing a positive end.