Prominent Poles
Józef Marian Chełmoński, painter
Born: November 7, 1849, Boczki, Russian partition of Poland (presently Poland)
Died: April 6, 1914, Kuklowka, Russian partition of Poland
Early days. Chełmoński was born on November 7, 1849 in the Boczki village near Lowicz in central Poland. His first teacher of drawing was his father Jozef, a small leaseholder and administrator of Boczki village. His mother was Izabela Noskowska. After finishing high school in Warsaw, he was studying in Warsaw Drawing Class (1867–1871) and taking private lessons from Wojciech Gerson.
Munich. From 1871 to 1874 Chełmoński lived in Munich. He cooperated with Polish painters assembled around Jozef Brandt and Maksymilian Gierymski whose lyrical, realist style influenced him. In 1872 he also had studied for a few months at the Academy of H. Anschutz and A. Strahuber. In 1872 and 1874 Chełmoński visited partitioned Poland, Podolia and Ukraine. In Munich, Chelmonski produced his first successful mature works, such as Before the Rain (1873), remarkable for its strong sense of atmosphere.
Warsaw- Paris. First paintings of Chełmoński arose under the influence of Gerson. Following works presented landscapes and villages. On returning to Warsaw in 1875 Chelmonski found no recognition there. The idealized picture of peasant life in Indian Summer (1875), shown at the Warsaw Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts, was violently attacked by the conservative critics for being too realistic. Other paintings sent for exhibition were likewise severely criticized. In 1875, thanks to the help of C. Godebski, Chełmoński came to Paris, where he had many important exhibitions: in 1876 – The thaw; in 1878 – Carriage and four; in 1882 – In front of a tavern, The stand of Kossacks. Thanks to them Chelmonski gain publicity and had become famous. In 1878 he signed a contract with A. Goupil. Many of his paintings ended in England and in the USA. Since he had many orders, the artistic level of his paintings decreased. He married Maria Szymanowska in 1878. From 1878 to 1887 Chełmoński had been traveling. He visited Poland, Vienna and Venice.
Return to Poland. In 1887 he returned to Poland and in 1889 settled in village Kuklowka near Minsk Mazowiecki. Contact with homeland and nature revealed quality of his artworks. From that time are the most beautiful of Chełmoński's paintings like: Partridge on the snow, The storks or Before thunderstorm. Chełmoński represented the trend in art called Polish Patriotic Painting.
Source:
This article uses, among others, material from the Wikipedia article "Jozef Chelmonski" licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. :
Wikipedia
with additions from other sources:
ART '4' '2' Day
Witold Raczunas
The above site, by Witold Raczunas, includes very good reproductions of Chelmonski’s 57 paintings. See:
Paintings
See also a reproduction of Chelmonski’s 'Raclawice' on:
Raclawice
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Prominent Poles
