Stanisław Lentz (April 23, 1861 – October 19, 1920) was a Polish painter, portraitist, illustrator, and a professor at the

Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw () is a public university of visual arts and applied arts located in the Polish capital. The academy traces its history back to the Department of Arts founded at the Warsaw University in the Duchy of Warsaw in 18 ...

from 1909.

Biography

Stanisław Lentz was born 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 ...

, Poland, and studied at the Krakow School of Fine Arts with Feliks Szynalewski and Izydor Jabłoński 1877–1879, then continued his studies in

Wojciech Gerson Wojciech Gerson (; 1 July 1831 – 25 February 1901) was a Polish painter, educator, architect and art critic who was one of the foremost representatives of the Polish school of Realism during the foreign Partitions of Poland. He served as long ...

's drawing class in

. In 1880–1884 he studied abroad 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 ...

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 ...

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

Gyula Benczúr Gyula Benczúr (28 January 1844, Nyíregyháza – 16 July 1920, Szécsény) was a Hungarian painter and art teacher. An "outstanding exponent of academicism", he specialized in portraits and historical scenes. He is "considered one of the grea ...

, and in 1884–1887 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 ...

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 ...

. After returning to Warsaw he teamed up with magazines. His illustrations were published by: *''Kłosy'' (1887–1890), *''Tygodnik Ilustrowany'' (1887–1898, 1905–1906, 1909–1910), *''Kurier Codzienny'' (1890–1891) In 1888, he became a member of the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts. In 1910 he joined the Society of Polish Artists ''Sztuka''. He traveled frequently abroad: in 1896 he visited Berlin, Paris and Madrid, in 1897 he visited Paris, in 1900 Normandy, in the years 1903 to 1914 (except for 1904) he and his wife spent summers in

Scheveningen Scheveningen () is one of the eight districts of The Hague, Netherlands, as well as a subdistrict () of that city. Scheveningen is a modern seaside resort with a long, sandy beach, an esplanade, a pier, and a lighthouse. The beach is popular ...

in the Netherlands. In 1909, Lentz was appointed professor at the

, while being also the director of this academy. In 1915 he was entrusted with this position for life. He was buried in

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 ...

in Warsaw.

Exhibitions

His works have been exhibited at numerous exhibitions in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and abroad (Berlin, Vienna, Munich, Paris, St. Petersburg, London, Antwerp, Venice). Individual artwork exhibitions: *Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts (1916, 1917, 1921), *Institute of Art Propaganda (1933) *

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 ...

(1976). In 1894 he was awarded a silver medal at the exhibition of contemporary art in

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

for ''Portret Adolfa Święcickiego'' (''Adolf Święcicki's Portrait''). At the Exposition Universelle in 1900 he won the award for the aesthetic qualities of ''Portret Mieczysława Frenkla'' (''Portrait of Mieczysław Frenkel''). The painting ''Vierzehntak'' / ''Wypłata robotnikom'' (''The Workers' Salaries'') won third prize in the TZSP painting competition in 1895. For ''Wilki morskie z Scheveningen'' (''Sea wolves of Scheveningen'') he was awarded the second prize in 1904 in the TZSP artwork painting competition.

Style

In the beginning he was under the influence of the Munich school where he had studied; in 1890 he began being influenced by the new colour trends. As a cartoonist he showed daily episodes from the life of the people of Warsaw. Many of his painting scenes displayed Jewish themes, like those in his artworks ''Przekupień żydowski'' (''Jewish merchant'') and ''Żydzi handlujący starzyzną'' (''Jews dealing junk''). Under the influence of the revolutionary events in the

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland (; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a monarchy in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval period from 1025 until 1385. Background The West Slavs, West Slavic tribe of Polans (western), Polans who lived in what i ...

in 1905, he was fascinated with the labour movement which became the key subject in his artwork. He was valued for his portraits created in the period 1900–1915, highlighting the blunt characteristics of the model, a synthetic form of the dark monochromatic colours and broad brushstrokes. In 1915 there was a period of fascination with Dutch painting, particularly the work of

Frans Hals Frans Hals the Elder (, ; ; – 26 August 1666) was a Dutch Golden Age painter. He lived and worked in Haarlem, a city in which the local authority of the day frowned on religious painting in places of worship but citizens liked to decorate thei ...

. In the last period of his creativity he also undertook artworks memorializing the effort of the soldiers of the

Polish Legions in World War I The Polish Legions () was a name of the Polish military force (the first active Polish army in generations) established in August 1914 in Galicia (Central Europe), Galicia soon after World War I erupted between the opposing alliances of the Trip ...

fighting for the country's independence.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lentz, Stanislaw 1861 births 1920 deaths Artists from Warsaw 19th-century Polish painters 19th-century Polish male artists 20th-century Polish painters 20th-century Polish male artists Polish male painters People from Congress Poland Painters from the Russian Empire