Aleksander Orłowski (9 March 1777 – 13 March 1832) was a Polish painter and sketch artist, and a pioneer of

lithography Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the miscibility, immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by ...

in 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 ...

Life

Orłowski was born in 1777 in

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 ...

into an impoverished noble family, his father was a tavern-keeper. In early childhood he became known as a prodigy, and soon Izabela Czartoryska financed his first painting classes with the artist Jan Piotr Norblin. In 1793 Orłowski joined the

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the Army, land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 110,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military histor ...

and fought in the Kościuszko Uprising against

Imperial Russia Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor/empress, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * ...

and

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

; he was wounded and returned to Warsaw for further studies, financed by Prince Józef Poniatowski. He studied with many notable painters of the age, including Norblin, Marcello Bacciarelli and Wincenty Lesserowicz. In 1802, after the

Partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partition (politics), partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place between 1772 and 1795, toward the end of the 18th century. They ended the existence of the state, resulting in the eli ...

, he moved to

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 ...

, where he became a pioneer of lithography. He died there, aged fifty-five. His works include countless sketches of everyday life in Poland and Russia, and scenes from the Kościuszko Uprising and other Polish wars. Aleksander Orłowski is mentioned in ', a poem written by Adam Mickiewicz in 1834, as well as in Alexander Pushkin's works.

Sources

* Bogusław Mucha, ''Artyści polscy w nowożytnej Rosji'', Łódź 1994, * Ludwik Bazylow, ''Polacy w Petersburgu'', Wrocław 1984,
"Aleksander Orłowski"
from '' Tygodnik Ilustrowany'' #34 (19 May 1860) @ Polona

External links

Biography, with paintings, drawings and graphic works by Orłowski
@ Malarze 1777 births 1832 deaths 18th-century Polish–Lithuanian painters 18th-century male artists 19th-century Polish painters 19th-century Polish male artists 18th-century painters from the Russian Empire Male painters from the Russian Empire 19th-century painters from the Russian Empire 19th-century Polish lithographers Polish printmakers 19th-century Polish lithographers Lithographers from the Russian Empire Kościuszko insurgents Painters from Warsaw Polish watercolourists Polish male painters {{Poland-painter-stub