Stanisław Witkiewicz (; 8 May 1851 – 5 September 1915) was a Polish painter, art theoretician, and amateur architect, known for his creation of " Zakopane Style".

Life

Witkiewicz was born in the

Samogitia Samogitia, often known by its Lithuanian language, Lithuanian name ''Žemaitija'' (Samogitian language, Samogitian: ''Žemaitėjė''; see Samogitia#Etymology and alternative names, below for alternative and historical names) is one of the five ...

n village of Pašiaušė (), present-day

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, 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, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

, ruled at the time by the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. His parents were Ignacy and Elwira Witkiewicz. Elwira came from a wealthy Szemiot family and grew up in a palace in Diktariškiai. Ignacy Witkiewicz at the age of 17 was a participant in the

November Uprising The November Uprising (1830–31) (), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in Russian Partition, the heartland of Partitions of Poland, partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. ...

, and after it ended he settled on the family estate and took up agriculture. The legend of his brother Jan Prosper, sentenced to long-term military service for his patriotic activities at school age, was alive in the family. In the Russian army, he made a career as a researcher of

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and a diplomat, and in the family tradition was considered a “Polish Wallenrod,” seeking to provoke a Russian-British conflict. Elwira's brother was Franciszek Szemiot, a commander in the November Uprising, then traveling the world looking for opportunities to fight for a free Poland, he was friends with Adam Mickiewicz and Juliusz Słowacki, the latter dedicated a poem to him. The memory of heroic family members influenced the patriotic atmosphere of the household. Ignacy and Elwira had twelve children, the first daughter Elwira was born in 1840, followed by Angelika, Wiktor, Anna, Barbara, Jan, Ignacy, Stanisław, Maria, Aniela and Eugenia, born in 1856. Three daughters, Angelika, Anna and Justyna died in childhood. The Witkiewicz family, especially Elwira, sought to raise the consciousness of the people, adhering to democratic views similar to those preached by Szymon Konarski's Association of the Polish People. Elwira founded a hospital for peasants in Pašiaušė and a school for their children, where her eldest daughter taught them in Polish and Lithuanian. Lithuanian was also taught to all the Witkiewicz children. As an adolescent, he spent several years in

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

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, where his parents and two older siblings were exiled for their support of the

January Uprising The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last i ...

. He was a student at the Academy of Fine Arts in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

(1868–1871) and furthered his education in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

(1872–1875). During his stay in Munich, he befriended painters Aleksander Gierymski,

Józef Chełmoński Józef Marian Chełmoński (7 November 1849 – 6 April 1914) was a Polish painter of the Realism (art movement), realist school with roots in the historical and social context of the late Romanticism in Poland, Romantic period in partitioned Pol ...

and Henryk Siemiradzki. In 1875, he moved to

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

and set up a painting workshop in the laundry at the Hotel Europejski. In 1884, he married Maria Pietrzkiewicz. The pair had a son, Stanisław Ignacy. The son's godmother was the internationally famous actress Helena Modjeska, whom the elder Witkiewicz in 1876 had nearly accompanied to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

in the

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. In 1884–1887, Witkiewicz worked as the artistic director of "Wędrowiec" weekly, for which he wrote a series of articles concerning the values of a work of art and the role of art critics (published in book form under the title "Painting and criticism among us", ''Sztuka i krytyka u nas'', in 1891 and 1899). In 1887, he held the same position in "Kłosy" magazine. In 1886, he visited

Zakopane Zakopane (Gorals#Language, Podhale Goral: ''Zokopane'') is a town in the south of Poland, in the southern part of the Podhale region at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. From 1975 to 1998, it was part of Nowy Sącz Voivodeship; since 1999, it has ...

for the first time. He developed a fascination with the Tatra Mountains, the Podhale highlanders and their vernacular traditions. His ambition became to create a Polish national style based on the highlanders' art, which he considered quintessentially Polish. He formulated the Zakopane Style (''styl zakopiański'') (also known as Witkiewicz Style (''styl witkiewiczowski'')) in architecture, in which he designed homes and interiors for well-off, artistically-minded Poles. He was strongly associated with Zakopane and promoted it in the art community. Witkiewicz had strong views against formal education:

''"School is completely at odds with the psychological make-up of human beings"''.

He applied this principle in his son's upbringing and was disappointed when the 20-year-old Witkacy chose to enroll at the Academy of Fine Arts in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

. In 1908, suffering from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

, the elder Witkiewicz left his family in Zakopane and relocated to Lovran, a fashionable resort in what was then

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

, which today is in

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. He died there in 1915. His first monographic art exhibition was staged in Zachęta Fine Arts Society in 1927. His son, Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, became a famous painter, playwright, novelist and philosopher, also known (from the conflation of his surname and middle name) by the pseudonym "Witkacy."

Selected publications

* ''Odpowiedź na ankietę Policja a sztuka''. Policja a sztuka (Response to the Survey The Police and Art) (1902), ''Krytyka'' IV: 275–280 * ''Chrześcijaństwo i katechizm. O nauce religii w szkołach galicyjskich'' (Christianity and the Catechism. About the Teaching of Religion in Galician Schools) (1904), * ''Wallenrodyzm czy znikczemnienie'' (Wallenrodism or Becoming Ignoble) (published in ''Kultura Polski'' 1917, a fragment of the work ''Studium o duszy polskiej po 1863 roku'' (A Study of the Polish Soul after 1863), * ''Przełom'' (Turning Point), * ''Życie, etyka i rewolucja'' (Life, Ethics and Revolution), * ''Na przełęczy. Wrażenia i obrazy z Tatr'' (On the Mountain Pass. Impressions and images from the Tatras) (1891, first published in '' Tygodnik Illustrowany'' 1889–1890), * ''Po latach'' (Years Later) (1905), * ''Z Tatr'' (From the Tatras) (1907), * Monographs: ''Juliusz Kossak'' (1900), ''Aleksander Gierymski'' (1903), ''Matejko'' (1908).

Selected paintings

File:Stanisław Witkiewicz - Autumn Pasturage - MNK II-a-397 - National Museum Kraków.jpg, ''Autumn Pasturage'', National Museum, Kraków File:Stanisław Witkiewicz - Noc ukraińska 1895.jpg, ''Ukrainian night'', National Museum, Kraków File:Witkiewicz Baltic in Palanga.jpg, ''On the Baltic at Palanga'',

National Museum, Warsaw The National Museum in Warsaw (, MNW) is a national museum in Warsaw, one of the largest museums in Poland and the largest in the capital. It comprises a rich collection of ancient art (Art of ancient Egypt, Egyptian, Art in ancient Greece, Greek, ...

File:Owce we mgle.jpg, ''Sheep in the Mist'' File:20 witkiewicz.jpg, ''Siberian Troika'' File:Stanisław Witkiewicz - Czarny Staw (The Blake Lake) – Blizzard - MNK II-a-491 - National Museum Kraków.jpg, ''Black Pond'' File:Krokusy.jpg, ''Crocuses with snowy mountains in the background'', National Museum, Kraków File:Stanisław Witkiewicz - Apple-Trees in Bloom - MNK II-a-395 - National Museum Kraków.jpg, ''Apple Trees in Bloom'', National Museum, Kraków File:Stanisław Witkiewicz - Wiosenny krajobraz ze stawem 1902.jpg, ''Spring landscape with a pond'', National Museum, Kraków File:Witkiewicz Narrow gate.jpg, ''Narrow gate'',

File:Stanisław Witkiewicz - Pasture land - MP 100 - National Museum in Warsaw.jpg, ''Pasture land'',

References

Bibliography

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External links