Witold Pruszkowski (14 January 1846, Bershad - 10 October 1896,

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

) was a Polish painter and graphic artist in the

Symbolist Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: *Symbol, any object or sign that represents an idea Arts *Artistic symbol, an element of a literary, visual, or other work of art that represents an idea ** Color symbolism, the use of colors within various c ...

style.

Biography

He spent his childhood in

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 ...

and Kiev. The family emigrated to

Dieppe Dieppe (; ; or Old Norse ) is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department, Normandy, northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to Newhaven in England ...

in 1860, and he relocated to

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 ...

in 1866, where he had his first drawing lessons with the portrait painter, Tadeusz Gorecki, the son-in-law of

Adam Mickiewicz Adam Bernard Mickiewicz (24 December 179826 November 1855) was a Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator and political activist. He is regarded as national poet in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. He also largely influenced Ukra ...

. From 1869 to 1872, he studied at the

Academy of Fine Arts, Munich The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich (, also known as Munich Academy) is one of the oldest and most significant art academies in Germany. It is located in the Maxvorstadt district of Munich, in Bavaria, Germany. In the second half of the 19th centur ...

with Alexander von Wagner then, from 1872 to 1875, at the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts with

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 ...

.Brief biography and appreciation
@ Culture.pl His unique color palette and soft focus led critics to label him as Poland's first impressionist. In 1882, he settled in Mników. Over the next few years, he and his brother travelled to Algeria, Tunisia and Italy. He also held several exhibitions in Warsaw and

Lwów 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 ...

. Later, he exhibited internationally, including shows in San Francisco and Chicago. In 1892, he became a member of the construction committee for a monument to

Artur Grottger Artur Grottger (11 November 1837 – 13 December 1867) was a Polish Romantic painter and graphic artist, one of the most prominent artists of the mid 19th century under the partitions of Poland, despite a life cut short by incurable illness. B ...

, whose works inspired a trio of Pruszkowski's most famous paintings: ''Lithuania'', ''Poland'', and ''War''. These established his style as an artist who drew subjects from national literature, but commented on the scenes rather than simply illustrating them. In the early 1890s, Pruszkowski was inspired by the

prose poem Prose poetry is poetry written in prose form instead of verse form while otherwise deferring to poetic devices to make meaning. Characteristics Prose poetry is written as prose, without the line breaks associated with poetry. However, it make ...

'' Anhelli'' by

Juliusz Słowacki Juliusz Słowacki (; ; ; 4 September 1809 – 3 April 1849) was a Polish Romantic poet. He is considered one of the " Three Bards" of Polish literature — a major figure in the Polish Romantic period, and the father of modern Polish drama. Hi ...

(1837) to create multiple pastels and oil paintings illustrating the plight of the Polish exiles in Siberia. Though each scene represents an event in the epic, critics see a commentary on the connection between this world and another. For example, in ''Eloe among the Graves'', the angel does not command the unquiet dead to cease their groaning with a thunderclap of his wings as in the epic, but instead is an ethereal feminine figure that gently spreads its arms in a soothing gesture. Although he painted portraits and rural scenes, he is best known for his depictions of fairy tales and folklore; working in

pastel A pastel () is an art medium that consists of powdered pigment and a binder (material), binder. It can exist in a variety of forms, including a stick, a square, a pebble, and a pan of color, among other forms. The pigments used in pastels are ...

s as well as oils. He also drew inspiration from the works of

and

Zygmunt Krasiński Count Napoleon Stanisław Adam Feliks Zygmunt Krasiński (; 19 February 1812 – 23 February 1859) was a Polish poet traditionally ranked after Adam Mickiewicz and Juliusz Słowacki as one of Poland's Three Bards – the Romantic poets who ...

. His most familiar work is, perhaps, "March to Siberia", painted in 1893. Its whereabouts were unknown for many years, but it was found in a private collection after World War II and is now in the Lviv National Art Gallery. He was ill for several years before his death in 1896. While visiting with family in Kołomyja, he suddenly disappeared. He was found at the train station in Budapest, suffering from extreme exhaustion, and was taken to a hospital, where he died two days later.

Selected paintings

File:Pruszkowski Falling star.jpg, Falling Star, 1884,

National Museum, 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 (Art of ancient Egypt, Egyptian, Art in ancient Greece, Greek, ...

File:Witold Pruszkowski-Sielanka.jpg, Idyll, 1880,

National Museum, Kraków National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

File:Pruszkowski When the morning glows arise.jpg, When Dawn is Breaking, 1876,

File:Witold Pruszkowski - Water nymphs - MP 934 - National Museum in Warsaw.jpg, Water nymphs,

File:Pruszkowski-Bachantka.jpg,

Maenad In Greek mythology, maenads (; ) were the female followers of Dionysus and the most significant members of his retinue, the '' thiasus''. Their name, which comes from μαίνομαι (''maínomai'', “to rave, to be mad; to rage, to be angr ...

, 1885, Lviv National Art Gallery File:ELOEpruszkowski.jpg, Eloe Among the Graves Anhelli, Ch. 11">rom Anhelli, Ch. 11 1892,

National Museum, Wrocław National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

References

External links

ArtNet: More works by Pruszkowski.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pruszkowski, Witold 19th-century Polish painters 19th-century Polish male artists Emigrants from the Russian Empire to France Polish draughtsmen 1846 births 1896 deaths People from Bershad Polish portrait painters Symbolism (arts) Polish male painters

Biography

Selected paintings

References

Further reading

External links