Józef Simmler (March 14, 1823, in
Warsaw – March 1, 1868, in Warsaw) was a Polish
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 ...
known for his classical style and his Polish subjects.
Biography
Simmler came from a wealthy German Protestant family. It was this affluent upbringing that allowed him to pursue his interest in cities like Dresden, Munich and Paris.
Perhaps his most famous work is "Death of
Barbara Radziwillowna" ("''Śmierć Barbary Radziwiłłówny''"), an oil on canvas work completed in 1860. The painting gained immense popularity when the Warsaw-based Society for the Promotion of the Fine Arts, a newly formed institution with the goal of encourage and promote domestic art and artists, put it on exhibit in 1861.
It now hangs in the National Museum, Warsaw. His other famous paintings are “Children of King Edward” (1847) and “Portrait of a Nobleman with a Parrot” (1859).
Józef Simmler's major contribution to Polish art is the humaneness that his paintings evoked. He was a specially gifted portraitist. Using styles of costume paintings prevalent in France, he produced works that allowed the public a view of the past. His paintings, however, were more than just reproductions of history. The masterful works also gave a deep sense of compassion, dread, and tenderness.
His daughter's brother-in-law was
Eduard Strasburger
Eduard Adolf Strasburger (1 February 1844 – 18 May 1912) was a Polish-German professor and one of the most famous botanists of the 19th century. He discovered mitosis in plants.
Life
Eduard Strasburger was born in Warsaw, Congress Poland, the ...
, the famous Polish-German
botanist
Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...
. One of Simmler's grandsons was
Henryk Leon Strasburger, a Polish delegate to the
League of Nations.
Selected paintings
File:Simmler Katarzyna Jahn.jpg, His sister, Katarzyna Jahn
File:Jadwiga Łuszczewska gen. Deotyma.jpg, Jadwiga Łuszczewska
File:Simmler szlachcic.jpg, Nobleman with a Parrot
File:Simmler Kronenberg sisters.jpg, The Kronenberg sisters
References
External links
A gallery of Jozef Simmler works
1823 births
1868 deaths
19th-century Polish painters
19th-century Polish male artists
Polish male painters
{{Poland-painter-stub