Ferdynand Ruszczyc (1870–1936) was Polish painter, printmaker, and stage designer. He was a member of the aristocratic Ruszczyc de Lis family.

Biography

Born in the village of Bohdanów (then

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

, now

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

), Ruszczyc spent his childhood in Minsk. He graduated from gymnasium in Minsk in 1890 with a gold medal. Ruszczyc originally studied law at the

University of St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg State University (SPBU; russian: Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the G ...

, but later switched majors and began taking painting classes at the

Imperial 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 T ...

. He was a student of the famous Russian landscape painters Ivan Shishkin and

Arkhip Kuindzhi Arkhip Ivanovich Kuindzhi (; rus, Архи́п Ива́нович Куи́нджи ; ; 27 January 1841 – 24 July 1910) was a Ukrainian landscape painter active in the Russian Empire, of Pontic Greek descent. Date of birth Kuindzhi's exact da ...

. Ruszczyc travelled to the

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a p ...

to paint seascapes, and later to the

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...

islands and Sweden to paint northern landscapes. He visited Berlin, where he was significantly influenced by the

Symbolist Symbolism was a late 19th-century art movement of French and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts seeking to represent absolute truths symbolically through language and metaphorical images, mainly as a reaction against naturalism and real ...

painters such as Arnold Bocklin. After graduation, Ruszczyc made extensive tours of Western Europe incorporating much of the styles he came across into his own art.

Career

Together with Kazimierz Stabrowski,

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 ...

, Konrad Krzyżanowski and , Ruszczyc helped develop the Warsaw School of Fine Arts, where he taught for a while. One of his students was the famous Lithuanian symbolism painter

M. K. Čiurlionis ( ; ; pl. ; ; 1512, from Middle French , literally "my lord") is an honorific title that was used to refer to or address the eldest living brother of the king in the French royal court. It has now become the customary French title of respect ...

. In 1907–08 he held the chair of landscape painting at the

Kraków 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 P ...

. In 1908, with Józef Mehoffer, Ruszczyc organized an exhibition of Polish painting in Vienna. He then settled in

Vilna Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional ur ...

(Vilnius), where he devoted himself to teaching. One of his students of that time was famous Russian and Soviet sculptor Isaac Itkind. Ruszczyc also organized cultural events, and worked as a graphic designer, poster designer and illustrator. As a costume designer, he participated in several performances of the municipal theater, and he was a member of the "Committee for the Conservation of the Adam Mickiewicz Monument". In 1918 and 1919 he participated in the founding of the Faculty of Fine Arts at

Stefan Batory University Vilnius University ( lt, Vilniaus universitetas) is a public research university, oldest in the Baltic states and in Northern Europe outside the United Kingdom (or 6th overall following foundations of Oxford, Cambridge, St. Andrews, Glasgow and ...

, where he was elected as the first dean. Czeslaw Znamierowski was one of his most notable students there.

Selected paintings

File:Ruszczyc Old apple trees.jpg, ''Old Apple Trees'' File:Ferdynand Ruszczyc. Nec mergitur.jpg, "''Nec Mergitur''"
(It will not sink) File:Ruszczyc Forest brook.jpg, ''Forest Brook'' File:Ruszczyc Old house.jpg, ''Old House'' File:Ruszczyc Soil.png, ''Soil'' File:Mlyn zima 3.jpg, ''Winter Landscape'' File:Mlyn zima 1.jpg, ''Mill in Winter'' File:Bajka zimowa.jpg, ''Winter Landscape'' File:Krzyz w sniegu.jpg, ''Winter Landscape'' File:Ferdynand Ruszczyc - Krym - brzeg morza - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Coast of Crimea'' File:Ferdynand Ruszczyc. Sobotki.jpg, ''Saturday'' File:Ferdynand Ruszczyc. Pustka.jpg, ''Emptiness'' File:Z brzegow Wilejki.jpg, ''On the Banks of the Wilejka'' File:Ferdynand Ruszczyc. Most zima.jpg, ''Winter Landscape'' File:Ferdynand Ruszczyc. Morze i skaly.jpg, ''Sea and Rocks'' File:W swiat.jpg, ''Into the World'' File:Dom w Bohdanowie.jpg, ''House in Bohdanow'' File:Ferdynand Ruszczyc - Stare gniazdo (1898).jpg, ''The Old Nest''

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruszczyc, Ferdynand 19th-century Polish painters 19th-century Polish male artists 20th-century Polish painters 20th-century Polish male artists People from Valozhyn District 1870 births 1936 deaths 20th-century Polish nobility Commanders of the Order of Polonia Restituta Commanders of the Order of Saint James of the Sword Polish male painters