Wojciech Gerson (; July 1, 1831 – February 25, 1901) was a leading
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
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 ai ...
of the mid-19th century, and one of the foremost representatives of the Polish school of
Realism
Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to:
In the arts
*Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts
Arts movements related to realism include:
*Classical Realism
*Literary realism, a move ...
during the foreign
Partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland were three partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place toward the end of the 18th century and ended the existence of the state, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland and Lithuania for 12 ...
. He served as long-time
professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...
of the School of Fine Arts 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 ...
,
and taught future luminaries of Polish
neo-romanticism including
Józef Chełmoński
Józef Marian Chełmoński (November 7, 1849 – April 6, 1914) was a Polish painter of the realist school with roots in the historical and social context of the late Romantic period in partitioned Poland. He is famous for monumental paint ...
,
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 ...
,
Władysław Podkowiński
Władysław Podkowiński (; February 4, 1866 – January 5, 1895) was a Polish master painter and illustrator associated with the Young Poland movement during the Partition period.
Career
Podkowiński was born in Warsaw and began his artist ...
,
Józef Pankiewicz
Józef Pankiewicz (29 November 1866, in Lublin – 4 July 1940, in La Ciotat) was a Polish impressionist painter, graphic artist and teacher who spent much of his career in France.
Biography
From 1884 to 1885, he studied at the School of Fine Ar ...
and
Anna Bilińska-Bohdanowicz
Anna may refer to:
People Surname and given name
* Anna (name)
Mononym
* Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke
* Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773)
* Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century)
* Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 1221)
...
owa among others. He also wrote art-reviews and published a book of anatomy for the artists.
A large number of his paintings were
stolen by Nazi Germany in
World War II
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 ...
, and
never recovered.
Biography
Gerson 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 ...
during 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 the heartland of partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. The uprising began on 29 November 1830 in W ...
against the Russians. He enrolled at the
School of Fine Arts
The School of Fine Arts or College of Fine Arts is the official name or part of the name of several schools of fine arts, often as an academic part of a larger university. These include:
The Americas
North America
*Alabama School of Fine ...
in Warsaw in 1844 and graduated with honors in 1850. In 1853 Gerson received a scholarship to the
St. Petersburg 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 Thre ...
, and spent two years studying historical painting with
Alexey Markov
Alexei Mikhailovich Markov (; born 26 May 1979 in Moscow) is a Russian former professional track and road bicycle racer.
Major results Track
;1996
: 2nd Team pursuit, Summer Olympics
;1997
: UCI World Cup
::1st Individual pursuit, Cali
...
. He graduated with a silver medal in St. Petersburg and returned to Warsaw in 1855. He left for
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 1856 and studied under
Léon Cogniet
Léon Cogniet (29 August 1794 – 20 November 1880) was a French history and portrait painter. He is probably best remembered as a teacher, with more than one hundred notable students.
Biography
He was born in Paris. His father was a painter ...
and others.
Gerson came back to Poland in February 1858. He resided in Warsaw for the rest of his life, nevertheless continued to travel abroad, until the turn of the century.
Gerson was a co-founder of the Fine-Arts Society "Zachęta" established in 1860.
It was the first support-group of its kind in Warsaw under the foreign occupation. He began to teach art in his own workshop in 1865, and became professor at the School of Fine Arts (''future
Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw
Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw ( pl, Akademia Sztuk Pięknych w Warszawie) is a public university of visual arts and applied arts located in the Polish capital. The Academy traces its history back to the Department of Arts founded at the Warsaw U ...
'') in 1872. He trained a generation of future Polish artists there, until his retirement in 1896. Gerson introduced the outdoor landscape trips and genre studies to his students with considerable impact on the art of
Józef Chełmoński
Józef Marian Chełmoński (November 7, 1849 – April 6, 1914) was a Polish painter of the realist school with roots in the historical and social context of the late Romantic period in partitioned Poland. He is famous for monumental paint ...
, the monumental painter with gallery named after him at
Sukiennice;
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 ...
, the leading field painter 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;
Antoni Piotrowski
Antoni Adam Piotrowski ( bg, Антони Пьотровски, ''Antoni Pyotrovski''; 1853–1924) was a Polish Romanticist and realist painter who worked as war correspondent and illustrator for various Western European weeklies and periodicals ...
revered as far as Bulgaria for his epic war-scenes,
as well as impressionist
Władysław Podkowiński
Władysław Podkowiński (; February 4, 1866 – January 5, 1895) was a Polish master painter and illustrator associated with the Young Poland movement during the Partition period.
Career
Podkowiński was born in Warsaw and began his artist ...
and his contemporaries.
Gerson was granted the title of academic by the St. Petersburg Fine Arts Academy in 1873 and named a professor in 1878.
Gerson also worked as an
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
and
art critic
An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogue ...
. He is revered in Poland for his historical paintings of patriotic nature, scenes of country life, and mountain landscapes. Gerson died in Warsaw, at the age of 70, and is buried in the
Evangelical Cemetery of the Augsburg Confession in Warsaw
( pl, Cmentarz ewangelicko-augsburski w Warszawie), The Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery of the Augsburg Confession in Warsaw is a historic Lutheran Protestant cemetery located in the Wola district, western part of Warsaw, Poland.
Details
The Evange ...
. His paintings can be seen at the
National Museum, Warsaw
The National Museum in Warsaw ( pl, Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie), popularly abbreviated as 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 ( Eg ...
; Upper Silesian Museum in
Bytom
Bytom (Polish pronunciation: ; Silesian: ''Bytōm, Bytōń'', german: Beuthen O.S.) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. Located in the Silesian Voivodeship of Poland, the city is 7 km northwest of Katowice, the regional capital ...
, and in other branches of the
National Museum of Poland "National Museum of Poland" is the common name for several of the country's largest and most notable museums. Poland's National Museum comprises several independent branches, each operating a number of smaller museums. The main branch is the Natio ...
as well as in selected churches.
Selected historical paintings
File:Gerson Baptism of Lithuania.jpg, ''Baptism of 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 ...
'', Museum of John Paul II Collection
The Museum of John Paul II Collection ( pl, Muzeum Kolekcji im. Jana Pawła II) in Warsaw, also known as the Porczyński Gallery or Carroll-Porczyński Collection, is a museum dedicated to its painting collection, which is housed in the building o ...
File:Wojciech Gerson-Kazimierz Odnowiciel.jpg, '' Kazimierz Odnowiciel'', National Museum, Wrocław
The National Museum in Wrocław ( pl, Muzeum Narodowe we Wrocławiu), established 28 March 1947 and officially inaugurated on 11 July 1948, is one of Poland's main branches of the National Museum system. It holds one of the largest collections of ...
File:Wojciech Gerson-Kosciuszko.jpg, '' Kościuszko''
File:Wojciech Gerson, Śmierć Przemysława.jpg, ''Death of Przemyslaw II'', National Museum, Warsaw
The National Museum in Warsaw ( pl, Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie), popularly abbreviated as 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 ( Eg ...
File:Wojciech Gerson, Przyjęcie Żydów.jpg, ''Kazimierz Wielki
Casimir III the Great ( pl, Kazimierz III Wielki; 30 April 1310 – 5 November 1370) reigned as the King of Poland from 1333 to 1370. He also later became King of Ruthenia in 1340, and fought to retain the title in the Galicia-Volhynia Wars. He ...
and Jews'', National Museum, Warsaw
The National Museum in Warsaw ( pl, Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie), popularly abbreviated as 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 ( Eg ...
Archival photographs of selected artwork looted by Germans
File:Gerson-Poranek.jpg, ''Morning''
File:Gerson-Pod_wiecz%C3%B3r.jpg, ''In the Evening''
File:Gerson-Zawierucha.jpg, ''Whirlwind''
File:Gerson-Pogoda.jpg, ''Weather''
File:Gerson-Łokietek na Skałkach Ojcowskich.jpg, '' Łokietek on Skałki''
References
Literature
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerson, Wojciech
1831 births
1901 deaths
Artists from Warsaw
19th-century Polish painters
19th-century Polish male artists
Academic staff of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw
Polish male painters