Jan Chrucki (''Ivan Fomich Khrutsky'', russian: link=no, Иван Фомич Хруцкий; be, Іван Хруцкі; 1810–1885) was a
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
-
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
painter of
Belarusian descent known by his
still lifes and portraits.
Biography
He was born into a
Greek-Catholic The term Greek Catholic Church can refer to a number of Eastern Catholic Churches following the Byzantine (Greek) liturgy, considered collectively or individually.
The terms Greek Catholic, Greek Catholic church or Byzantine Catholic, Byzantine Ca ...
Polish-Belarusian family descended from the
nobility
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The character ...
of
Leliwa coat of arms
Leliwa is a Polish coat of arms. It was used by several hundred szlachta families during the existence of the Kingdom of Poland and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and remains in use today by many of the descendants of these families. The ...
in the village of
Ulla
Ulla is a given name. It is short for Ursula in German-speaking countries and Ulrika/Ulrikke in Scandinavian countries. As of 31 December 2011, there were 61,043 females named Ulla in Sweden, with the name being most popular during the 1930s a ...
,
Vitebsk Governorate
Vitebsk Governorate (russian: Витебская губерния, ) was an administrative unit ( guberniya) of the Russian Empire, with the seat of governorship in Vitebsk. It was established in 1802 by splitting the Byelorussia Governorate an ...
. His father Tomasz, like his relatives, was a Greek Catholic priest, his mother's name was Minadora (or Menodowa) Kuryłło. He was educated at the Piarist Lyceum in Polotsk, which had university rights, then in 1827 he went to
St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
. He studied privately with George Dawe, then around 1830 entered the
Imperial Academy of Arts
The Russian Academy of Arts, informally known as the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, was an art academy in Saint Petersburg, founded in 1757 by the founder of the Imperial Moscow University Ivan Shuvalov under the name ''Academy of the T ...
. There he established contacts with another Polish painter Jozef Oleszkiewicz, who introduced him to the Hermitage.
His first known works are dated 1832. The paintings gradually gathered public and critical acclaim. Khrutsky also worked as an interior designer, and became a popular amongst the wealthy home owners. In 1836 he was awarded the ''Major Silver medal'' of the academy for his
still-lifes. Khrutsky also executed nice genre pictures and portraits. ''Old Woman Knitting a Sock'', brought him the Minor Gold medal of the academy. In 1839 he was awarded the title of the Academician.
After his father's death in 1840 Khrutsky left St. Petersburg forever and settled in the family estate Zacharnicze (Zakharenichi, Zacharniczy),
Polotsk
Polotsk (russian: По́лоцк; be, По́лацк, translit=Polatsk (BGN/PCGN), Polack (official transliteration); lt, Polockas; pl, Połock) is a historical city in Belarus, situated on the Dvina River. It is the center of the Polotsk Dist ...
region. This period was one of commissioned religious art, mostly from
Lithuania. He spent a lot of time in Vilnius, where he made several works from nature on the orders of Jan Kazimierz Wilczyński for the "Album Wileńskie". Besides religious paintings he also worked on portraits, such as I.I. Glazunov's, 's, 's and others.
He died in his estate in Zacharnicze in 1885.
Family
In 1845 he married Anna Odrowąż-Bębnowska (b. 1822), daughter of Ksawery, captain in the
Kościuszko Uprising of 1794. With her he had a daughter, Maria, and a son, Józef (d. 1918), who inherited the family estate.
Two of Chrucki's brothers were also painters. The younger Andrzej - from 1845 a free student of St. Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts, who in 1854 was awarded the title "unclassified painter", from 1870, lived with his brother's family in Zacharnicze. Older brother Eustachy, a portrait painter, who graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in 1842, also with the title of "unclassified painter", settled down in St. Petersburg.
Selected paintings
File:Vilnia, Kalvaryja. Вільня, Кальварыя (J. Chrucki, 1844-49).jpg, Verkiai Calvary
Verkiai Calvary or Vilnius Calvary is the second oldest calvary in Lithuania after Žemaičių Kalvarija. It is located in Verkiai, a neighborhood of Vilnius, capital of Lithuania. The calvary was built in 1662–69 as a sign of gratitude f ...
File:Хруцкий В комнате(1854).jpg, In the Room
File:Mikałaj Malinoŭski. Мікалай Маліноўскі (J. Chrucki, 1847).jpg, Portrait of historian and journalist Mikołaj Malinowski (1799-1865)
File:Jan Chrucki. Naturmort z hrybami, 1842.jpg, Still life with Mushrooms
References
Sources
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External links
Works from Olga's GalleryBiography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chrucki, Jan
1810 births
1885 deaths
People from Beshankovichy District
People from Lepelsky Uyezd
Belarusian nobility
People from the Russian Empire of Polish descent
19th-century male artists from the Russian Empire
Russian painters
Polish painters