Alexander Kucharsky (18 March 1741 – 5 November 1819) also Alexandre Kucharsky, was a Polish portrait painter who spent his adult life in France. He himself used the spelling Kucharsky,See signature at Marie Antoinette, miniature by Kucharsky, 1790 but Kucharski is also often used. In the past, in France, the name has been given as Couaski.

Early life

Kucharsky was born in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

. As a boy, he was a page to King

Stanisław II Augustus Stanislav and variants may refer to: People *Stanislav (given name), a Slavic given name with many spelling variations (Stanislaus, Stanislas, Stanisław, etc.) Places * Stanislav, a coastal village in Kherson, Ukraine * Stanislaus County, Cali ...

, the last elected ruler of the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...

.Le peintre KUCHARSKY
at museelouisxvii.com (accessed 28 December 2007) He trained first as an artist in Warsaw, in the studio of the famous painter

Marcello Bacciarelli Marcello Bacciarelli (; 16 February 1731 – 5 January 1818) was a Polish-Italian painter of the late-baroque and Neoclassic periods. Biography He was born in Rome, and studied there under Marco Benefial. In 1750, with the recommendation of the ...

. With a bursary from King Stanisław Augustus, he then travelled to Paris to work under

Joseph-Marie Vien Joseph-Marie Vien (sometimes anglicised as Joseph-Mary Wien; 18 June 1716 – 27 March 1809) was a French painter. He was the last holder of the post of Premier peintre du Roi, serving from 1789 to 1791. Biography He was born in Montpellier ...

and

Carle van Loo Carle or Carlé is a surname. Notable people with the name include: *Andrea Cosima Carle, whose stage name is Maggie Mae (1960 – 2021), German singer *Barbara Carle (born 1958), French-American poet, critic, translator and Italianist *David Car ...

at the

Académie Royale An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

, from 1760 to 1769.

Work

The king of Poland wanted Kucharsky to train as a historical painter, but instead he became a portrait artist, thus losing the king's patronage. From 1776 to 1778, Kucharsky was in the service of the

Princes de Condé A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary title, hereditary, in some Euro ...

. Kucharsky liked to paint half-length portraits in pastels or in oils, but he also worked in gouache and sometimes painted miniatures. His clients were mostly from the French and Polish aristocracy. The latter had increased in numbers in France as a result of the alliance between

King Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached ...

and

Marie Leszczyńska Maria Karolina Zofia Felicja Leszczyńska (; ; 23 June 1703 – 24 June 1768), also known as Marie Leczinska, was Queen of France as the wife of King Louis XV from their marriage on 4 September 1725 until her death in 1768. The daughter of Stanis ...

. After the departure from the French court of Élisabeth-Louise Vigée-Le Brun in 1789, Kucharsky became painter to Queen Marie-Antoinette. As well as painting her portrait and the royal children, he also painted Marie-Louise, princesse de Lamballe, the comte d'Artois, later

King Charles X Charles X (born Charles Philippe, Count of Artois; 9 October 1757 – 6 November 1836) was King of France from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. An uncle of the uncrowned Louis XVII and younger brother to reigning kings Louis XVI and Loui ...

, the

countess of Artois The count of Artois (French: Comtes d'Artois, Dutch: Graven van Artesië) was the ruler over the County of Artois from the 9th century until the abolition of the countship by the French Revolution, French revolutionaries in 1790. House of Artois ...

, and

Catherine the Great of Russia , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anha ...

. Kucharsky's best-known work today includes his portraits of the doomed French royal family, especially the future King Louis XVII. The final portrait, painted in 1793 of Marie Antoinette, was sold at auction by Piasa on 21 May 2003 and is attributed to Kucharsky.Portrait de Marie-Antoinette au temple
at artnet.com (accessed 30 December 2007) When signing his work, the artist used the spelling "Kucharsky".

Later years

Throughout the years of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

, Kucharsky's allegiance remained with the ''

ancien régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for "ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France {{disambig ...

''. In retirement he lived near Paris at Sainte-Périne, living on a pension granted by

Louis XVIII of France Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. He spent twenty-three years in e ...

. He died in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Selected paintings

Image:Louis Charles of France5.jpg, Louis Charles, Dauphin of France, 1789, now in the

Palace of Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 19 ...

Image:Alexander_Kucharski,_La_Reine_Marie-Antoinette_(années_1790).jpg,

Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child a ...

around 1790 File:Marie Joséphine Louise de Savoie, comtesse de Provence.jpg,

Marie Josephine Louise of Savoy Marie may refer to: People Name * Marie (given name) * Marie (Japanese given name) * Marie (murder victim), girl who was killed in Florida after being pushed in front of a moving vehicle in 1973 * Marie (died 1759), an enslaved Cree person in Tro ...

Image:Kucharski Portrait.JPG, Portrait of a Woman (lost during

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

)

Footnotes

External links