Konstanty Laszczka (born 3 September 1865 in Makowiec Duży; died 23 March 1956 in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

) was a Polish sculptor, painter, graphic artist, as well as professor and

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of the

Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts The Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków ( pl, Akademia Sztuk Pięknych im. Jana Matejki w Krakowie, usually abbreviated to ''ASP''), is a public institution of higher education located in the centre of Kraków, Poland. It is the oldest Pol ...

in Kraków. Laszczka became the Rector of the Academy in 1911, however, for family reasons he resigned from this function in 1912. Piotr Szubert, Akademia Sztuk Pięknych w Warszawie
Kultura polska: Konstanty Laszczka
February 2002

Early life

Laszczka was born into a large farming family in

Masovia Mazovia or Masovia ( pl, Mazowsze) is a historical region in mid-north-eastern Poland. It spans the North European Plain, roughly between Łódź and Białystok, with Warsaw being the unofficial capital and largest city. Throughout the centurie ...

, the son of Antoni Laszczka and his wife Katarzyna, from Kupce village. His talent was first discovered by the Ostrowscy family of landed gentry who sponsored his art studies in Warsaw in 1885 under the tutorage of Jan Kryński and Ludwik Pyrowicz. Soon later Laszczka received a scholarship from the Polish Society of Visual Arts (Towarzystwo Sztuk Pięknych) called "Zachęta" and went to

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 ...

in 1891. While in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, he studied at the

École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts The Beaux-Arts de Paris is a French ''grande école'' whose primary mission is to provide high-level arts education and training. This is classical and historical School of Fine Arts in France. The art school, which is part of the Paris Science ...

Academy. He received directions from such artists as Jean-Antoine Mercié,

Alexandre Falguiere Alexandre may refer to: * Alexandre (given name) * Alexandre (surname) * Alexandre (film) See also * Alexander * Xano (disambiguation) Xano is the name of: * Xano, a Portuguese hypocoristic of the name " Alexandre (disambiguation)" * Idálio Ale ...

and

Jean-Léon Gérôme Jean-Léon Gérôme (11 May 1824 – 10 January 1904) was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as academicism. His paintings were so widely reproduced that he was "arguably the world's most famous living artist by 1880." The ran ...

. He was also involved in the arts movement of the French Polonia. In 1897 Laszczka returned to Poland under foreign partitions and became a teacher 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 ...

. In 1899 at the invitation of painter

Julian Fałat Julian Fałat, (30 July 1853 in Tuligłowy near Lwów – 9 July 1929 in Bystra Śląska) was one of the most prolific Polish painters of watercolor and one of the country's foremost landscape painters as well as one of the leading Polish imp ...

, Laszczka settled in Kraków where he became the professor at the Academy of Fine Arts. In years 1900-1935 he was a director at the Sculpture Department there.

Professional career

While in Kraków, Konstanty Laszczka became close friends with

Stanisław Wyspiański Stanisław Mateusz Ignacy Wyspiański (; 15 January 1869 – 28 November 1907) was a Polish playwright, painter and poet, as well as interior and furniture designer. A patriotic writer, he created a series of symbolic, national dramas within ...

and

Leon Wyczółkowski Leon Jan Wyczółkowski (; 24 April 1852 – 27 December 1936) was one of the leading Painting, painters of the Young Poland movement, as well as the principal representative of Polish Realism (arts), Realism in art of Polish culture in the Inter ...

. He was one of the founding members of the Society of Polish Artists called "Sztuka" (Art), with the

aesthetic Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed th ...

philosophy of the

Young Poland Young Poland ( pl, Młoda Polska) was a modernist period in Polish visual arts, literature and music, covering roughly the years between 1890 and 1918. It was a result of strong aesthetic opposition to the earlier ideas of Positivism. Young Pola ...

Movement. Among his students were:

Stanisław Jackowski Stanisław Jackowski (1887 in Warsaw – 1951 in Katowice) was a Polish sculptor, and nephew of novelist Bolesław Prus. In 1909-11 Jackowski studied sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków (''Akademia Sztuk Pięknych'') under Konstanty L ...

Bolesław Biegas Bolesław Biegas (1877–1954) was a Polish, surrealist and Symbolist painter and sculptor. Biography Biegas was born in Koziczyn, Poland and orphaned at a young age. He began studying sculpture in Warsaw in the studio of a local sculptor, Ant ...

Xawery Dunikowski Xawery Dunikowski (; 24 December 1875 – 26 January 1964) was a Polish sculptor and artist, notable for surviving Auschwitz concentration camp, and best known for his Neo-Romantic sculptures and Auschwitz-inspired art. Biography Dunikowski ...

Ludwik Konarzewski :''You may also be looking for Ludwik Konarzewski (junior).'' Ludwik Konarzewski – senior (August 18, 1885, Wilanów – October 2, 1954, Istebna) was a Polish painter, sculptor and teacher of fine arts who worked in Upper Silesia and Cies ...

, Franciszek Mączyński, Olga Niewska and Zofia Baltarowicz-Dzielińska. In years 1900-1910 he also cooperated as graphic designer and sculptor with ceramic factory of Józef Niedźwiecki in nearby Dębniki. His son, Bogdan Laszczka, became an architect and activist of the Polish Tatra Society. Laszczka died in Kraków at the end of the Stalinist period and was buried there at the famous

Rakowicki Cemetery Rakowicki Cemetery (English: ; pl, Cmentarz Rakowicki) is a historic necropolis and a cultural heritage monument located on 26 Rakowicka Street in the centre of Kraków, Poland. It lies within the Administrative District No. 1 ''Stare Miasto'' ...

. In his work Konstanty Laszczka followed the example of his master, the French sculptor

Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor, generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a uniqu ...

. The influence is most evident in a series of female

nude Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. The loss of body hair was one of the physical characteristics that marked the biological evolution of modern humans from their hominin ancestors. Adaptations related to h ...

studies, sculpted around the

turn of the century Turn of the century, in its broadest sense, refers to the transition from one century to another. The term is most often used to indicate a distinctive time period either before or after the beginning of a century or both before and after. Acc ...

and based on symbolic themes. The earliest statue called "Zima (Konik polny)" (Winter. The grasshopper) was made in 1895; later, Laszczka created more female nudes overwhelmed with emotions, such as "Żal" (Grief) in 1901, and "Zasmucona" (Overwhelmed with Sadness) 1901–1902 now at a

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

br>(photo).
His connection with the

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

movement emanated from statues such as "W nieskończoność" (Eternally) from 1896–1897, "Nostalgia" (1903) and - inspired by

Edvard Munch Edvard Munch ( , ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His best known work, ''The Scream'' (1893), has become one of Western art's most iconic images. His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the dr ...

- "Krzyk" (The Scream) from 1902. He focused above all on sculpture, but also painted portraits, made medals, portrait medallions and occasional plaques. In the late period of his artistic career he became interested in fired ceramics, with subject matter drawn from religious, folk and animal themes. "Works of Konstanty Laszczka" at Italian Arcadja ArtMagazine and Auctions
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Notes and references

Kultura polska - Konstanty Laszczka

Szkoła Podstawowa im. Konstantego Laszczki w Dobrem
* Agata Małodobry

National Museum, Kraków The National Museum in Kraków ( pl, Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie), popularly abbreviated as MNK, is the largest museum in Poland, and the main branch of Poland's National Museum, which has several independent branches with permanent collections arou ...

Bibliography

* Dobrowolski Tadeusz, ''Sztuka Młodej Polski'', Warszawa 1963. * ''Słownik artystów polskich i obcych w Polsce działających.'' Malarze, rzeźbiarze, graficy, t. II, Wrocław 1975 (Urszula Leszczyńska). * Kotkowska-Bareja Hanna, ''Konstanty Laszczka'', Siedlce 1976. * Puciata-Pawłowska Joanna, ''Konstanty Laszczka'', Siedlce 1980. {{DEFAULTSORT:Laszczka 1865 births 1956 deaths People from Mińsk County 19th-century Polish painters 19th-century Polish male artists 20th-century Polish painters 20th-century Polish male artists Polish sculptors Polish male sculptors Golden Laurel of the Polish Academy of Literature Art Nouveau painters Art Nouveau sculptors Art Nouveau medallists 20th-century Polish sculptors 19th-century sculptors Polish male painters