Aleksander Raczyński (1822, Lwów - 16 November 1889, Lwów) was a Polish portrait painter.

Biography

He had his first art lessons in his hometown with Jan Maszkowski.Brief biography
@ the

Museum of King Jan III's Palace at Wilanów A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

. After 1846, he studied at the

Academy of Fine Arts Vienna The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (german: link=no, Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien) is a public art school in Vienna, Austria. History The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna was founded in 1692 as a private academy modelled on the Accademia di Sa ...

and the

Academy of Fine Arts, Munich The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich (german: Akademie der Bildenden Künste München, also known as Munich Academy) is one of the oldest and most significant art academies in Germany. It is located in the Maxvorstadt district of Munich, in Bavaria, ...

. Later, he attended the

École des Beaux-Arts École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centur ...

in Paris. During his student years, he created a large number of humorous drawings and cartoons depicting the life of the artistic community. They are now in the collection of the

Ossolineum Ossoliński National Institute ( pl, Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich, ZNiO), or the Ossolineum is a Polish cultural foundation, publishing house, archival institute and a research centre of national significance founded in 1817 in Lwów (now L ...

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

. In 1857, he travelled to Italy and, upon his return, settled permanently in Lwów. where he opened a portrait studio. Among his best-known sitters were

Wincenty Pol Wincenty Pol (20 April 1807 – 2 December 1872) was a Polish poet and geographer. Life Pol was born in Lublin (then in Galicia), to Franz Pohl (or Poll), a German in the Austrian service, and his wife Eleonora Longchamps de Berier, from a Fre ...

Aleksander Fredro Aleksander Fredro (20 June 1793 – 15 July 1876) was a Polish poet, playwright and author active during Polish Romanticism in the period of partitions by neighboring empires. His works including plays written in the octosyllabic verse (''Zemst ...

, Józef Dwernicki,

Maciej Rybiński Maciej Rybiński (; 24 February 1784 in Slavuta in Wołyń, 17 January 1874 in Paris), Polish general, last chief of State of November Uprising The November Uprising (1830–31), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or the Ca ...

and

Gregory Yakhimovich Hryhoriy Yakhymovych ( uk, Григорій Яхимович, pl, Grzegorz Jachimowicz; 16 February 1792 – 29 April 1863) was the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, and also a leading figure in the Ukrainian N ...

. He often painted from photographs. His friend, Artur Grottger, provided the landscape backgrounds for many of Raczyński's portraits. He also painted sacred and historical subjects, as well as contemporary scenes from the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

. In 1855, he engraved the

Coats-of-Arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

for a new edition of the ''Herbarz Polski'' (Polish Armorial) by

Kasper Niesiecki Kasper Niesiecki (31 December 1682 – 9 July 1744), also known as Kacper Niesiecki, was a Polish heraldist, Jesuit, lexicographer, writer, theologian and preacher. Biography Niesiecki was born in Greater Poland to a burgher family. In 1699 ...

. He was also a founder and frequent exhibitor at the "Society of Friends of Fine Arts in Lwów" and served as Director of the Technical Academy (now

Lviv Polytechnic Lviv Polytechnic National University ( ua, Націона́льний університе́т «Льві́вська політе́хніка») is the largest scientific university in Lviv, Ukraine. Since its foundation in 1816, it has bee ...

). His works may be seen at the

Lviv National Art Gallery Borys Voznytsky Lviv National Art Gallery ( uk, Львівська Національна Галерея Мистецтв імені Бориса Возницького) is the largest art museum in Ukraine, with over 62,000 artworks in its colle ...

and the King John III Palace Museum, Wilanów.

Selected paintings

File:General Maciej Rybiński by Aleksander Raczyński.png, General

File:RaczynskiAleksander.ZuawiWWalce.1858.jpg, Zouaves in Battle File:Aleksander Raczyński - In the servants’ chamber - MP 5113 MNW - National Museum in Warsaw.jpg, In the Servants' Chamber File:Aleksander Raczyński - Hunter - MP 2234 MNW - National Museum in Warsaw.jpg, Hunter File:Aleksander Raczyński - Portret kobiety 1857.jpg, Portrait of a Woman

References

External links

1822 births 1889 deaths Portrait painters 19th-century Polish painters 19th-century Polish male artists Artists from Lviv Polish male painters {{Poland-painter-stub