The last episode from our series "Polish Art at the Institue" features Jozef Mehoffer, one of the most known and acclaimed Polish artists.
Mehoffer was a painter and decorative artist, one of the leading artists of the Young Poland movement, a modernist period in Polish visual arts, literature and music, from the turn of 19th and 20th century.
Polish Art at the Institute - Stanislaw Wyspiański
In the next episode of the series “Polish Art at the Institute,” we are presenting the work of Stanislaw Wyspiański and his painting “Portrait of a Girl” from the Collection of the Piłsudski Institute of America.
Wyspiański was a versatile artist: a painter, playwright, poet, architect, and representative of the artistic community of Krakow during the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth century. The painting “Portrait of a Girl” was donated to the Institute by the former vice-president, Aleksander Mełen Korczyński.
Polish Art at the Institute – Leon Wyczółkowski
In our exhibition we are presenting the work of this great artist and those of his paintings which are found in the collection of the Józef Piłsudski Institute of America.Leon Wyczółkowski was a leading artist, graphic designer and illustrator of “Młoda Polska,” and prominent representative of the realist movement in Polish art.
Wyczółkowski was a versatile artist, who experimented with many different artistic styles and techniques, and a lover of Polish nature and of the historic architecture of Polish cities. The paintings by him, which are found in the Institute’s collection, depict old buildings in Krakow, Lublin, Lwów, and Warsaw’s old town.
Introduction to the Art Gallery of the Pilsudski Institute - Joanna Kozak
Your guide will be Dr. Joanna Kozak, an art historian, who talks in a fascinating way about artists, paintings, and artistic techniques and gives many interesting insights related to these subjects. The Institute’s gallery contains an impressive collection of oil paintings, watercolors, drawings, and engravings (more than 250). There are paintings of many noteworthy artists, including Jan Matejko, Juliusz Kossak, Józef Brandt, Wojciech Gerson, Leon Wyczółkowski, Aleksander Gierymski, Julian Fałata, Jacek Malczewski, and Stanisław Wyspiański. Not many museums can boast of a collection containing such artists.
The program is supported by public funds from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with The City Council.
Aleksander Gierymski "Before a duel"
Aleksander Gierymski (1850-1901) - "Before the duel"
Oil on canvas, signed and dated, 1870, 44x57.5 cm
Donated by Halina Leppert-Pawłowicz, 1990
The early painting of Aleksander Gierymski reveals, both through the choice of the subject and the manner of its development, the artist's interest, probably under the influence of the older brother Maksymilian, also an outstanding painter. A solid, realistic workshop Gierymski mastered at the Munich Academy (he studied there since 1868) and enhanced his skills while making numerous drawings and woodcuts for illustrated magazines in Warsaw, including "Kłosów" and "Wanderer". The experiences allowed Gierymski to create a suggestive image, refined to the smallest detail (perfectly reproduced eighteenth-century costumes and props), which makes watching this scene an unforgettable experience.
The work of the young artist was successfully displayed in 1870 at the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in Warsaw,and Gierymski returned to the Rococo motifs a few years later painting one of his most famous paintings, "The Gazebo" a stunning example of Polish impressionism.