Ludwik Józef Stasiak (13 August 1858 in

Bochnia Bochnia is a town on the river Raba in southern Poland, administrative seat of Bochnia County in Lesser Poland Voivodeship. The town lies approximately halfway between Tarnów (east) and the regional capital Kraków (west). Bochnia is most noted ...

– 3 December 1924 in Bochnia) was a Polish painter, cartoonist, journalist, art historian and publisher. He worked in a wide variety of genres and provided illustrations for magazines such as ' (Ivy), ' (Ears) and ''

Tygodnik Illustrowany ''Tygodnik Illustrowany'' (, ''The Illustrated Weekly'') was a Polish language weekly magazine published in Warsaw from 1859 to 1939. The magazine focus was on literary, artistic and social issues. History It is said to have been one of the mos ...

''. He was also the author of some popular historical novels.

Biography

He was born to a middle-class family and his father worked in the

Bochnia Salt Mine The Bochnia Salt Mine () in Bochnia, Poland, is one of the oldest salt mines in the world and is the oldest commercial company in Poland. The Bochnia salt mine was established in 1248 after salt had been discovered there in the 12th and 13th centu ...

. When he was of age, he was sent to Kraków to attend a gymnasium. After graduating in 1879, he was undecided about his future, simultaneously studying philosophy at the

Jagellonian University The Jagiellonian University (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the oldest universities in continuous operation in the wor ...

and painting at 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 ...

After two years, he decided to devote himself entirely to art.

Izydor Jabłoński Izydor Jabłoński (born February 7, 1835, in Kraków, died November 13, 1905, therein) was a Polish painter, professor at the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, friend and biographer of Jan Matejko. Biography In the years of 1848 to ...

Władysław Łuszczkiewicz Władysław Łuszczkiewicz (3 September 1828 – 23 May 1900) was a Polish historian and painter of the late Romanticism in Poland, Romantic era from Kraków, active in the period of the foreign partitions of Poland. He was a professor at the Jan ...

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Leopold Löffler Leopold Loeffler, also spelled Löffler, (October 27, 1827 – February 6, 1898), was a Polish realist painter of the late Romantic period popular in the second half of the 19th century under the foreign partitions of Poland. Lithographic rep ...

and

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 ...

were among his teachers. During this time, he received several awards from the

Kraków Society of Friends of Fine Arts The Kraków Society of Friends of Fine Arts (, TPSP) is a social group of artists, artisans and their supporters founded in Kraków in 1854, under the Austrian Partition of Poland. Today, the Society operates from the Art Nouveau Palace of Art ere ...

. In 1886, he continued his studies in Vienna under August Eisenmenger and was later in Munich,Brief biography
@ the Museum of Bochnia. where he studied with

Alexander von Wagner Alexander originally Sándor von Wagner (April 16, 1838 – January 19, 1919) was a Kingdom of Hungary, Hungarian painter. Biography Wagner was born in Pesth. After graduating from the Gymnasium (school), Real-Gymnasium in his hometown at ...

and

Alexander von Liezen-Mayer Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are A ...

. After returning home, he became a regular exhibitor with the Kraków Society, showing 142 works in all. He also had exhibits at the Zachęta. His first solo exhibit was in 1893. Two years later, after travelling in Austria and Germany, with a brief stay in Warsaw, he returned to Bochnia and opened a studio which became a gathering point for artists of the

Young Poland Young Poland ( ) was a modernist period in Polish visual arts, literature and music, covering roughly the years between 1890 and 1918. It was a result of strong aesthetic opposition to the earlier ideas of Positivism. Young Poland promoted tre ...

movement. In 1898, to counter the dominance of German and Austrian painters in the art print business, he founded the publishing house, "Bochni Wydawnictwo Obrazów Treści Religijnej", which later became the art publisher "Stella". He served as artistic director and many of the works presented were later issued as color postcards. In 1900, he helped organize a major exhibition of Polish artists in Kiev. Stasiak-Pilgrims

After 1901, his interests turned from painting to literary work. He wrote historical novels, short stories and three volumes of humorous sketches, all of which proved to be very popular. He also became interested in the sculptor

Veit Stoss Veit Stoss (, also spelled Stoß and Stuoss; ; ; before 1450about 20 September 1533) was a leading German language, German sculptor, mostly working with wood, whose career covered the transition between the late Gothic art, Gothic and the North ...

(Wit Stwosz), a major figure in Medieval Kraków. After extensive research, he concluded that Stoss was actually of Polish, not German origin, and wrote several works supporting that thesis. The Bochnia City Council declared 2008 to be the "Year of Ludwik Stasiak".Newsletter
from the Jan Matejko Primary School in Bochnia.

Selected novels

* ''Brandenburg: kraina słowiańskich mogił'' (Brandenburg, a Land of Slavic Graves), A. A. Paryski, 1940 * ''W Zapadłym szybie'' (In the Sunken Glass), , 190
Full text
@ Google Books * ''Krwawe ręce'' (Bloody Hands), Księgarnia Maniszewskiego i Meinharta, 1907 * ''Rycerze śpiący w Tatrach'' (Knights Asleep in the Tatra Mountains), Gebethner, 190
Full text of Vol.1
@ Google Books

References

External links

ArtNet: More works by Stasiak.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stasiak, Ludwik 1858 births 1924 deaths People from Bochnia 19th-century Polish painters 19th-century Polish male artists 20th-century Polish painters 20th-century Polish male artists Polish journalists Polish illustrators Polish essayists Polish male writers Polish male essayists Polish historical novelists Polish male painters

Biography

Selected novels

Further reading

References

External links