Walenty Wańkowicz

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Self-portrait of the painter
The most famous Wańkowicz painting "Portrait of Adam Mickiewicz on the Ajudah Rock" (Polish: Portret Adama Mickiewicza na Judahu skale ), oil on canvas, 1827/28, held by the National Museum in Warsaw

Walenty Wilhelm Wańkowicz ( Belarusian : Валянцін Ваньковіч, born February 14, 1799 in Kalużyce near Minsk ; † May 12, 1842 in Paris ) was a painter from the Minsk governorate . He was a representative of classicism and romanticism as well as a supporter of the Vilnius University embossed art school Vilnius .

Life

Wańkowicz was born on the Kalużyce family estate in what was then the Russian governorate of Minsk. His father was Melchior Wańkowicz, a judge working in Minsk. From 1811 the son attended the Jesuit- run academy in Polatsk , where he was trained in civil and military architecture and drawing. His teacher was Jakub Pesling; Wańkowicz graduated with honors here in 1817. In 1818 he enrolled at Vilnius University and studied under Jan Rustem and Jan Damel .

St. Petersburg

From 1925 to 1929 he was then at the Russian Art Academy in St. Petersburg with Aleksiej Jegorow and Wasilij Szebujew . In Petersburg he made many friendships with well-known personalities among the Poles staying here. One of these friends became the young but already famous poet Adam Mickiewicz , whom he portrayed at the turn of the year 1827/1828 ("Portrait of Adam Mickiewicz on the Ajudah rock"). Around this time, portraits of the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin , the pianist Maria Szymanowska and the poet and satirist Antoni Gorecki (an uncle of the artist) were created.

Minsk

In the following years Wańkowicz lived in Malaja Sljapjanka near Minsk as well as in Minsk itself. Here he had a studio with Jan Damel; from here he traveled frequently to Vilnius , whose painting scene had a great influence on the painters in Minsk. Portraits of the Towiańskis, the married couple Gutta and, in 1834, the allegorical Napoleon portrait "Napoleon in front of the fire" (Polish: Napoleon przy ognisku ) were created. In recognition of his artistic achievements, the Senate appointed him a member of the Academy in 1832. At the end of 1839 he went on a trip abroad. In 1840 he lived in Dresden for a while, followed by short stays in Berlin, Munich and Strasbourg.

Paris

In 1841 he reached Paris, where he was to stay until his death. He renewed contact with Mickiewicz, who taught at the Collège de France , and had a strong influence on him. The philosopher and sect founder Andrzej Towiański also influenced him.

Wańkowicz was buried on the Cimetière de Montmartre . The Wańkowicz Villa, the family's former residence in Minsk, is now a museum dedicated to the painter.

plant

Wańkowicz mainly painted portraits (including miniatures ), religious and historical pictures ; the latter with motifs from the Napoleonic period. Classical elements with strong romantic tendencies in motifs and in painting characterize many of his works. The Mickiwicz painting, which has been copied many times, was his outstanding achievement and, in its style, can be assigned to the romantic Vilna painting school.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The painting was inspired by the Mickiewicz sonnet "Ajudah". The picture in the Warsaw National Museum is a copy of the missing original. Another of the many contemporary copies is in the Mickiewicz Museum in Paris
  2. ↑ according to other sources the year of birth could also have been 1800, e.g. B. acc. Adam Mickiewicz. Dzieła. 1830-1841. Listy , Volume 15, ISBN 9788307018898 , Publisher: Czytelnik, 2003, p. 670 (in Polish)
  3. ↑ according to Edward Odyniec, ... and Goethe smiled, Adam Mickiewicz in Weimar, Reisebriefe , Richard A. Kosowski (Ed.), ISBN 978-3-8370-4016-6 , Books on Demand GmbH, Norderstedt 2008, p. 140
  4. ↑ according to Agnieszka Morawińska, Romantyzm. Malarstwo w czasach Fryderyka Chopina , on an exhibition in the Warsaw Royal Castle from November 20, 1999 to February 27, 2000, ISBN 9788391181119 , Dom Polski, Warsaw 1999, p. 68 (in English)

literature

  • Jens Christian Jensen (ed.): Polish painting from 1830 to 1914, catalog for the exhibition from June 24 to August 20, 1978 in the Kunsthalle zu Kiel , DuMont, Cologne 1978, p. 263 f.

Web links

Commons : Walenty Wańkowicz  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Wańkowicz, Walenty
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wańkowicz, Walenty Wilhelm (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Polish painter
DATE OF BIRTH February 14, 1799
PLACE OF BIRTH Kalużyce
DATE OF DEATH May 12, 1842
Place of death Paris