Józef Unierzyski (20 December 1863, Milewo – 29 December 1948,

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 ...

) was a Polish painter. From 1891, he served as a Professor of drawing at the

Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts The Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków (, usually abbreviated to ''ASP''), is a public higher education, institution of higher education located in the centre of Kraków, Poland. It is the oldest Polish fine art academy, established in 1 ...

in Kraków.

Biography

He began his studies at the School of Drawing in Warsaw, with

Wojciech Gerson Wojciech Gerson (; 1 July 1831 – 25 February 1901) was a Polish painter, educator, architect and art critic who was one of the foremost representatives of the Polish school of Realism during the foreign Partitions of Poland. He served as long ...

and . Thanks to a scholarship from the , granted in 1883, he was able to continue his studies in Munich and Italy, where he attended the "Scuola libera" and the

Accademia di San Luca The Accademia di San Luca () is an Italian academy of artists in Rome. The establishment of the Accademia de i Pittori e Scultori di Roma was approved by papal brief in 1577, and in 1593 Federico Zuccari became its first ''principe'' or director; ...

in Rome. When he returned to Poland, he studied at the School of Fine Arts with

Jan Matejko Jan Alojzy Matejko (; also known as Jan Mateyko; 24 June 1838 – 1 November 1893) was a Polish painter, a leading 19th-century exponent of history painting, known for depicting nodal events from Polish history. His works include large scale ...

. Later, he would marry Matejko's daughter,

Helena Helena may refer to: People *Helena (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Katri Helena (born 1945), Finnish singer * Saint Helena (disambiguation), this includes places Places Greece * Helena ...

. He became a Deputy Assistant at the School in 1889 and became an Assistant in 1891. Six years later, he was approved as a Professor. In the academic years 1895/96 and 1908/09, he operated his own drawing school. He voluntarily retired in 1909. During World War I, he taught night classes on commission. Throughout his career, he painted in a modified

Academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

style and remained unimpressed by

Modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

. He painted works in a variety of types; including portraits, historical scenes and religious subjects, but also created works with mythological,

allegorical As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory throughou ...

and symbolic content. His most familiar painting, "Zdjęcie z krzyża" (picture or photograph with the Cross, a post-

crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the condemned is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross, beam or stake and left to hang until eventual death. It was used as a punishment by the Achaemenid Empire, Persians, Ancient Carthag ...

scene), from 1887, is on display at the

National Museum, Kraków National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

. His works may also be seen at the

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, ...

, and the

Bielsko-Biała Museum and Castle The Bielsko-Biała Museum, also known as the Castle of the Sułkowski Princes (Polish: ''Zamek książąt Sułkowskich'') is a museum for the city of Bielsko-Biała, Poland located in the historical Bielsko Castle. Three local branches of the muse ...

, among others. Several locations have his religious murals, notably including a Marian Cycle of six panels at

St. Mary's Church, Katowice St. Mary's Church in Katowice () is one of the oldest churches in Katowice, Poland, dating back to 19th century. This neo-Gothic church is located in the Śródmieście district. The architectural design was entrusted to Alexis Langer, a renowned ...

Sources

* Władysław Prokesch: ''Józef Unierzyski'', Wydawnictwo J. Czernecki, Kraków, Wieliczka 1916 * „Materiały do dziejów Akademii Sztuk Pięknych w Krakowie 1816–1895”, Wrocław 1959, Ed. Józef Dutkiewicz * „Materiały do dziejów Akademii Sztuk Pięknych w Krakowie 1895–1939”, Wrocław – Warszawa – Kraków 1969, Ed. Józef Dutkiewicz

External links

Works and biographical notes
@ Sztuki Piekne {{DEFAULTSORT:Unierzyski, Jozef 1863 births 1948 deaths 19th-century Polish painters Polish male painters Religious artists Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts alumni Academic staff of the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts People from Płońsk County