Jan Rustem (; 1762 – 21 June 1835) was a

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

of Armenian ethnicity who lived and worked in the territories of the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

. Primarily a

portrait painter Portrait painting is a Hierarchy of genres, genre in painting, where the intent is to represent a specific human subject. The term 'portrait painting' can also describe the actual painted portrait. Portraitists may create their work by commissio ...

, he was commissioned to execute portraits of notable personalities of his epoch. For many years he was a professor at

Vilnius University Vilnius University ( Lithuanian: ''Vilniaus universitetas'') is a public research university, which is the first and largest university in Lithuania, as well as one of the oldest and most prominent higher education institutions in Central and Ea ...

Biography

He was born in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, and as a young orphan boy was sponsored by

Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski Prince Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski (1 December 1734 – 19 March 1823) was an influential Polish aristocrat, writer, literary and theater critic, linguist, traveller and statesman. He was a great patron of arts and a candidate for the Polish cro ...

, who invited him to the Commonwealth around 1774. Czartoryski paid for his studies 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 ...

, where among his tutors were Jean-Pierre Norblin de La Gourdaine and

Marcello Bacciarelli Marcello Bacciarelli (; 16 February 1731 – 5 January 1818) was an Italian-born painter of the late-baroque and Neoclassicism, Neoclassic periods active in Poland and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Biography He was born in Rome, and stud ...

. Between 1788 and 1790, he moved to Germany, where he became a

freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

. Two years later he returned to the Lithuanian-Polish Commonwealth and lived for some time in Warsaw, later moving to

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

. Following the partitions of the Commonwealth, Rustem started working for Vilnius University, as an assistant to Franciszek Smuglewicz. After Smuglewicz's death, the professorship of Fine Art was awarded in 1810 to the Englishman, Joseph Saunders and Rustem became his collaborator. In 1811, he became a professor of sketching and in 1819 became a professor of painting. Rustem retired in 1826, but continued to give lectures until his death, which occurred near

Dūkštas Dūkštas (; ) is a city in eastern Lithuania, north from Ignalina, on the bank of Lake Dūkštas. History During World War I, the town was occupied by Germany. In the interbellum, it was administratively located in the Wilno Voivodeship of ...

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 ...

. Among his successful students were

Taras Shevchenko Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko (; ; 9 March 1814 – 10 March 1861) was a Ukrainian poet, writer, artist, public and political figure, folklorist, and ethnographer. He was a fellow of the Imperial Academy of Arts and a member of the Brotherhood o ...

, Józef Oleszkiewicz, Kanuty Rusiecki, and Michał Kulesza.

Selected portraits

File:Mykolas Riomeris.jpg,

Michał Józef Römer Michał Józef Römer (also spelled Romer or Roemer; 2 September 1778 – 14 January 1853) was a politician, writer, Freemason, and notable member of the Polish-Lithuanian identity, Polish–Lithuanian gentry. Son of Stefan Dominik Römer and Anna ...

File:Jan Śniadecki cr.jpg, Jan Śniadecki File:Stanisłaŭ Jundził. Станіслаў Юндзіл (J. Rustem, 1822).jpg, Stanisław Bonifacy Jundziłł File:Rustem-Portret Krystyny Frankowej.jpg, Krystyna Frank, wife of Dr. Józef Frank

References

* Od starożytności do współczesności - Malarstwo i rzeźba, Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN S.A., Warszawa 2006 * ''Malarstwo Polskie w zbiorach za granicą'', Stefania Krzysztofowicz-Kozakowska, Wydawnictwo Kluszczyński, 2003, *
''Rustem, Jan''
webart: malarstwo polskie {{DEFAULTSORT:Rustem, Jan 1762 births 1835 deaths Ethnic Armenian painters Painters from the Russian Empire 18th-century Polish–Lithuanian painters 18th-century male artists 19th-century Polish painters 19th-century Polish male artists 18th-century Lithuanian people 19th-century Lithuanian painters Lithuanian painters Polish people of Armenian descent Academic staff of Vilnius University Artists from Vilnius Polish male painters