Kazimierz Stabrowski (November 21, 1869, Kruplyany – June 10, 1929,

Garwolin Garwolin is a town on the Wilga (Garwolin), Wilga river in eastern Poland, capital of Garwolin County, situated in the southeast part of the Garwolin plateau in Masovian Voivodeship, southeast of Warsaw, northwest of Lublin. As of December 2021, ...

) was a Polish painter, and director of the

Academy of Fine Arts The following is a list of notable art schools. Accredited non-profit art and design colleges * Adelaide Central School of Art * Alberta College of Art and Design * Art Academy of Cincinnati * Art Center College of Design * The Art Institute ...

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 ...

. He also founded the first lodges of the

Theosophical Society The Theosophical Society is the organizational body of Theosophy, an esoteric new religious movement. It was founded in New York City, U.S.A. in 1875. Among its founders were Helena Blavatsky, a Russian mystic and the principal thinker of the ...

in Poland.Karolina Maria Hess and Małgorzata Alicja Dulska
Kazimierz Stabrowski’s Esoteric Dimensions: Theosophy, Art, and the Vision of Femininity
''La Rosa di Paracelso'' 1 (2017):41-65.

Biography

Kazimierz Stabrowski came from a

Polish landed gentry Polish landed gentry (, singular: , from ''ziemia'', "land") was a social group or class of hereditary landowners who held manorial estates. Historically, ''ziemianie'' consisted of hereditary nobles (''szlachta'') and landed commoners ( ''km ...

(''ziemiaństwo'') family. His father Antoni was a military in the Russian Army and his mother Zofia Pilecka came from a rich Polish family. In the years 1880 to 1887, he completed his education in

Białystok Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the List of cities and towns in Poland, tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area. Biał ...

, after which he studied at the

Imperial Academy of Arts The Imperial Academy of Arts, informally known as the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, was an art academy in Saint Petersburg, founded in 1757 by Ivan Shuvalov, the founder of the Imperial Moscow University, under the name ''Academy of th ...

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

, where he was taught by

Pavel Chistyakov Pavel Petrovich Chistyakov (; 5 July 1832 — 11 November 1919) was a Russian painting, Russian painter and art teacher. He is known for historical and Genre art, genre scenes as well as portraits. Biography His father was a freed serf who ha ...

, later (from 1895) in

Ilya Repin Ilya Yefimovich Repin ( – 29 September 1930) was a Russian painter, born in what is today Ukraine. He became one of the most renowned artists in Russian Empire, Russia in the 19th century. His major works include ''Barge Haulers on the Volga' ...

's workshop. At the academy he gained contacts with numerous

Polish painters Note: Names that cannot be confirmed in Wikipedia database nor through given sources are subject to removal. If you would like to add a new name please consider writing about the artist first. ''This is an alphabetical listing of Polish painter ...

, inter alia with

Ferdynand Ruszczyc Ferdynand Ruszczyc (1870–1936) was a 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, now Belarus), Ruszczyc spent h ...

, Kazimierz Wasilkowski, Henryk Weyssenhoff, and Stanisław Bohusz-Siestrzeńcewicz, as well as with

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

. In 1893, he went on artist travels to the

East East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

, and

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

, in which he visited

Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, and

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. Throughout his journey, he gathered a portfolio of work, he did his diploma painting ''Muhammad in the desert (The escape from Mecca)'' ''(Mahomet na pustyni (Ucieczka z Mekki))'' during his travels. In the years of 1897 to 1898, he did his further studies at the

Académie Julian The () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907). The school was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number and qual ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

; it is there where he met numerous academics inter alia

Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant (also known as Benjamin-Constant), born Jean-Joseph Constant (10 June 1845 – 26 May 1902), was a French painter and etcher best known for his Oriental subjects and portraits. Biography Benjamin-Constant was ...

, and

Jean-Paul Laurens Jean-Paul Laurens (; 28 March 1838 – 23 March 1921) was a romanticism French painter and sculptor, and he is one of the last major exponents of the French Academic style. Biography Laurens was born in Fourquevaux and was a pupil of Léon ...

, and has been introduced into the artistic movements of

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

and

Fauvism Fauvism ( ) is a style of painting and an art movement that emerged in France at the beginning of the 20th century. It was the style of (, ''the wild beasts''), a group of modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong col ...

. In Paris he also became interested in the philosophy of

Henri Bergson Henri-Louis Bergson (; ; 18 October 1859 – 4 January 1941) was a French philosopher who was influential in the traditions of analytic philosophy and continental philosophy, especially during the first half of the 20th century until the S ...

. After coming back to

, he participated in the regional sphere of artists, where he made numerous artworks, which he exhibited inter alia

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, (at the

World's fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition, is a large global exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specific site for a perio ...

in 1900),

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

(1901), and

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

(1903). In 1902, he married Julia Janiszewska, a sculptor, who he met at the

. From 1902, he became a member of the

Society of Polish Artists "Sztuka" The Society of Polish Artists "Sztuka" () founded in 1897 in Kraków, was a gathering of prominent Polish visual artists from around the turn of the century (or fin-de-siècle era) living under the foreign partitions of Poland The Partitions ...

(''Towarzystwo Artystów Polskich "Sztuka"''). In 1903, he moved to live in

, where he engaged in organisation and

pedagogue Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

. Together with

Konrad Krzyżanowski Konrad Krzyżanowski (15 February 1872 – 25 May 1922) was a Polish illustrator and painter, primarily of portraits, who was considered to be an early exponent of Expressionism. Biography He was born in Kremenchuk. He grew up in Kyiv and took hi ...

he operated a private art school, which led to the reopening of the then closed after the

January Uprising The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last i ...

, School of Fine Arts in

. The school opened on March 19, 1904. Kazimierz Stabrowski became the first director of the school, performing this function to 1909. His most famous pupil there was Lithuanian painter

Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis (; – ) was a Lithuanian composer, painter, choirmaster, cultural figure, and writer in Polish. Čiurlionis contributed to symbolism and Art Nouveau, and was representative of the fin de siècle epoch. ...

Due to a conflict with the Pedagogue Council, and the Tutelary Committee, after being involved in

Western esotericism Western esotericism, also known as the Western mystery tradition, is a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas and currents are united since they are largely distinct both from orthod ...

, he dismissed himself. By that time, he was in fact the leading figure in the

in Poland, and had founded the first Theosophical lodges there, and he transmitted his Theosophical ideas to Čiurlionis. The years of 1909 to 1913, marked his second artist travels, inter alia

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, and the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

. The summer months he spent with his family in

Lūznava Manor Lūznava Manor (also known as: ''Dlužneva'' or ''Glužņeva'') is a manor house located in the village of Lūznava, Rēzekne Municipality, in the Latgale region of Latvia. Today the local primary school of Lūznava is located in the manor house. ...

(''Dłużniewo''),

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

. He visited

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 ...

frequently and was instrumental in organizing the first art exhibitions there. After

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he moved to

, when in 1918, he moved back to

. After new aesthetics in Russia after

, his work gained criticism by

s, and positive views by the journal

Mir iskusstva ''Mir iskusstva'' ( rus, «Мир искусства», p=ˈmʲir ɪˈskustvə, ''World of Art'') was both a Russian magazine and the artistic movement it fostered, playing a significant role in shaping the Russian avant-garde. The movement was d ...

. In the 1920s, he travelled again to find new artistic themes, to

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

, and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. In 1922, he co-founded the artist group

Sursum Corda The ''Sursum corda'' (Latin for "Lift up your hearts" or literally, "Upwards hearts") is the opening dialogue to the Preface of the Eucharistic Prayer or Anaphora in Christian liturgies, dating back at least to the third century and the Ana ...

. He died in 1929, he was buried at the

Powązki Cemetery Powązki Cemetery (; ), also known as Stare Powązki (), is a historic necropolis located in Wola district, in the western part of Warsaw, Poland. It is the most famous cemetery in the city and one of the oldest, having been established in 179 ...

(Quarter 205-I-8) in

Selected paintings

File:Stabrowski Peacock.jpg, ''By the Stained Glass Window''
(1908),

National Museum in 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 ( Egyptian, Greek, Roman), counting about 11,000 pieces, an ...

File:Kazimierz Stabrowski 1.jpg, ''Nude - Dawn''
(1902),

District Museum in Toruń Toruń Regional Museum (), located in the '' Ratusz'' hall of Toruń, is one of the oldest and largest museums in Poland. It started in 1594 as the mere Cabinet of Curiosities at the library of the academic Gimnazjum, called ''Musaeum'' in Latin. ...

File:Kazimierz Stabrowski Akt.jpg, ''Nude with Peacock Feathers''
(1900) File:Stabrowski - Hiszpanka.jpg, ''Spanish Woman''
(1928) File:Stabrowski Portret Wandy Siemaszkowej, 1910.jpg, ''Portrait of the Actress,
Wanda Siemaszkowska''
(1910)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stabrowski, Kazimierz 1869 births 1929 deaths People from Karelichy district People from Slonimsky Uyezd Polish male painters Symbolist painters 19th-century Polish painters 19th-century Polish male artists 20th-century Polish painters 20th-century Polish male artists Polish Theosophists Burials at Powązki Cemetery

Biography

Selected paintings

References

Further reading

External links