Jan Rustem ( hy, Յան Ռուստամ; 1762 – 21 June 1835) was a

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

of Armenian ethnicity who lived and worked in the territories 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 Poland and Lithuania rul ...

. Primarily a

portrait painter Portrait Painting is a genre in painting, where the intent is to represent a specific human subject. The term 'portrait painting' can also describe the actual painted portrait. Portraitists may create their work by commission, for public and ...

, he was commissioned to execute portraits of notable personalities of his epoch. For many years he was a professor at

Vilnius University Vilnius University ( lt, Vilniaus universitetas) is a public research university, oldest in the Baltic states and in Northern Europe outside the United Kingdom (or 6th overall following foundations of Oxford, Cambridge, St. Andrews, Glasgow ...

Biography

He was born in

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth ( Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

, and as a young orphan boy was sponsored by

Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski Prince Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski (1 December 1734 – 19 March 1823) was an influential Polish aristocrat, writer, literary and theater critic, linguist, traveller and statesman. He was a great patron of arts and a candidate for the Polish crow ...

, who invited him to the Commonwealth around 1774. Czartoryski paid for his studies 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 official ...

, where among his tutors were

Jean-Pierre Norblin de La Gourdaine Jean-Pierre Norblin de La Gourdaine ( pl, Jan Piotr Norblin; 15 July 1745 – 23 February 1830) was a Polish- French painter, draughtsman, engraver and caricaturist. Born in France, from 1774 to 1804 he resided in the Crown of the Kingdom of ...

and

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 t ...

. Between 1788 and 1790, he moved to Germany, where he became a

freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

. Two years later he returned to the Lithuanian-Polish Commonwealth and lived for some time in Warsaw, later moving to

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional u ...

. Following the partitions of the Commonwealth, Rustem started working for Vilnius University, as an assistant to Franciszek Smuglewicz. After Smuglewicz's death, the professorship of Fine Art was awarded in 1810 to the Englishman, Joseph Saunders and Rustem became his collaborator. In 1811, he became a professor of sketching and in 1819 became a professor of painting. Rustem retired in 1826, but continued to give lectures until his death, which occurred near Dūkštas,

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

. Among his successful students were

Taras Shevchenko Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko ( uk, Тарас Григорович Шевченко , pronounced without the middle name; – ), also known as Kobzar Taras, or simply Kobzar (a kobzar is a bard in Ukrainian culture), was a Ukrainian poet, wr ...

, Józef Oleszkiewicz, Kanuty Rusiecki, and Michał Kulesza.

Selected portraits

File:Mykolas Riomeris.jpg, Michał Józef Römer File:Jan Śniadecki cr.jpg, Jan Śniadecki File:Stanisłaŭ Jundził. Станіслаў Юндзіл (J. Rustem, 1822).jpg, Stanisław Bonifacy Jundziłł File:Rustem-Portret Krystyny Frankowej.jpg, Krystyna Frank, wife of Dr. Józef Frank

References

* Od starożytności do współczesności - Malarstwo i rzeźba, Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN S.A., Warszawa 2006 * ''Malarstwo Polskie w zbiorach za granicą'', Stefania Krzysztofowicz-Kozakowska, Wydawnictwo Kluszczyński, 2003, *
''Rustem, Jan''
webart: malarstwo polskie {{DEFAULTSORT:Rustem, Jan 1762 births 1835 deaths Armenian painters 18th-century Polish–Lithuanian painters 18th-century male artists 19th-century Polish painters 19th-century Polish male artists 18th-century Lithuanian people 19th-century Lithuanian people Lithuanian painters Polish people of Armenian descent Vilnius University faculty Artists from Vilnius Polish male painters