'Jan Matejko' () (also known as 'Jan Mateyko';
June 24,
1838,
Free City of Kraków; -
November 1,
1893,
Kraków) was a
Polish painter known for paintings of notable historical Polish political and military events.
[1][2] His most
famous works include
oil on canvas paintings like ''
Battle of Grunwald'', paintings of numerous other
battles and
court scenes, and a gallery of
Polish kings. He is counted among the most famous
Polish painters.
Biography
Matejko was born in the
Free City of Kraków, part of the Polish territory annexed by
Austria during the
Partitions of Poland. His father, Franciszek Ksawery Matejko was a
Czech from the village of Rudnice. He was a tutor and music teacher who first worked for the Wodzicki family in
Kościelniki, then moved to
Kraków, where he married the half-
German, half-
Polish Joanna Karolina Rossberg. Jan was the ninth child from eleven that his parents had. After the death of his mother in 1846, Matejko and his siblings were taken care of by his aunt, Anna Zamojska.
From his earliest days Matejko showed exceptional artistic talent that allowed him to advance from grade to grade, although he had great difficulty with other subjects. He never mastered a foreign language and did not do well even with his native
Polish language. As a result, the public appearances he was obliged to make all his life must have been difficult for him. At a young age he witnessed the
Kraków revolution of 1846 and the 1848
siege of Kraków by the Austrians, the two events which ended the existence of the
Free City of Kraków. His two older brothers served in them under General
Józef Bem and one died. He attended St.Anna high school which he dropped out of in 1851 because of poor results. Despite that and because of his exceptional talent he studied at the
School of Fine Arts in Kraków from 1852 to 1858 under
Wojciech Korneli Stattler and
WÅ‚adysÅ‚aw Åuszczkiewicz. During this time he begun exhibiting historical paintings at the Society of Friends of the Fine Arts there (see e.g.
Sigismund I Bestowing Nobility on the Professors of the
University of Kraków in 1535.). After studying under the historical painter
Hermann Anschütz in
Munich (1859) (where he got a bronze medal for a study of male act) and then briefly and less successfully in
Vienna, Matejko returned to Kraków, where he lived for the rest of his life and where, beginning in 1873, he was for many years the principal of the Academy of Fine Arts.
During the
January Uprising of 1863 in which he did not participate because of poor health, Matejko gave financial support and
transported arms to the insurgents' camp in
Goszcza). In 1864 he married Teodora Giebultowska, with whom he had four children: Beata, Helena, Tadeusz, and Jerzy. In the same year he became a member of Scientific Society in Kraków. At that time Matejko started to gain international recognition; literally a
starving artist during his younger days, in 1865, his painting ''Skarga's Sermon'' won the gold medal at the annual
Paris salon. It was subsequently purchased by Count
Maurycy Potocki for 10,000
guldens. In 1867, the painting ''Rejtan'' won the gold medal at the
World Exhibition in Paris. French critics included Matejko among the most outstanding representatives of historical painting in Europe. Through his painting, he succeeded in reminding Europe that
partitioned Poland still existed despite political realities.
Matejko died in Kraków and was buried in the center of the Alley of the Meritorious at Kraków's
Rakowicki Cemetery.
Works
In 1860 Matejko issued an illustrated album, ''Ubiory w Polsce'' (Clothing in Poland), a project reflecting his intense interest in historical records of all kinds and his desire to promote such interest among the Polish people in an effort to intensify their patriotic feelings. In 1861 he had an exhibition ''Otrucie królowej Bony'' (Poisoning of
Queen Bona) in
Warsaw's
Zachęta. The national defeats forced him to abandon the
religious painting which, he believed, was his vocation and to devote himself almost exclusively to
historical painting. In fact he created a vision of
Polish history from which we can not liberate ourselves despite of perennial criticism of the scientists. Matejko often placed on his paintings people who were not present at this location (f.ex.
Hugo Kołłątaj, and General
Józef Wodzicki, on ''The
Battle of Racławice''). He was not interested in presenting factual events but in representation of a historical-philosophical synthesis. Matejko's work has to be viewed not only in artistic terms, but also in terms of the
social function it performed and continues to perform today. He considered history as a function of the present and the future. His paintings are not historical illustrations, rather they are powerful expressions of the artist's psyche and his attitude to the world.
Matejko was focusing on major themes in Polish history and using historical sources to paint events in minute historical detail. He created two groups of historical paintings. The earlier one starting with the painting
Stańczyk (1862) was directed against the magnates whose lack of
patriotism caused, in his opinion, the fall of Poland. Stanczyk, the court jester to King
Sigismund I (1437-1548), to whom Matejko gave his own features. The jester is presented as a symbol of the nation's conscience: he sits glumly in a chair apart from the other figures, alone in seeing that events during the
wars against Moscow would ultimately end in tragedy. This group of paintings included among others also ''Kazanie Skargi'' (Sermon of
Piotr Skarga) (1864) and
Reytan (1866).
The second group, painted after the defeat of
January Uprising, is dedicated to famous events in Polish history. Matejko depicted many major events and battles in Polish history. His most famous work is ''Bitwa pod Grunwaldem'' (
Battle of Grunwald) (1878) depicting the 1410 Polish victory over the
Teutonic Knights; a painting showing "clearly nationalist endeavour"
[3] which garnered it international acclaim as "an unrivaled icon of
Polish nationalism"
[4]. Other paintings in this group include ''Unia Lubelska'' (
Union of Lublin) (1869), ''Stefan Batory pod Pskowem'' (
Stefan Batory at the
siege of Pskov) (1872), ''Kopernik'' (
Nicolaus Copernicus), ''Dzwon Zygmunta'' (Sigismund's Bell) (1874), ''Hołd Pruski'' (
Prussian Tribute) (1882), ''Sobieski pod Wiedniem'' (
Jan III Sobieski at the
siege of Vienna) (1883),
Wernyhora, ''
Kościuszko pod Racławicami'' (
Tadeusz Kościuszko at the
battle of Racławice) (1888), ''Dzieje Cywilizacji w Polsce'' (History of civlization in Poland) (1889) and ''Konstytucja 3 Maja'' (
Constitution of the 3rd May) (1891). From 1890 to 1892 he also painted all of the
Polish kings compiled in his book Portraits of Polish Kings (1890); his dedication to detail is evident in that he attended the opening of
Queen Jadwiga's
sarcophagus in 1887 to make sketches of her skull.
In addition to historical events Matejko made also several portraits. Among others: ''Żona w sukni ślubnej'' ("Wife in the wedding dress") (1879), A. Potocki (1879), S. Tarnowski (1890), Autoportret (1892).
Altogether Matejko authored 320
oil paintings and several thousands
drawings and
watercolors. Finally he painted a monumental
polychrome in
St. Mary's Basilica, Kraków (1889-1891). His most important paintings were hidden during
World War II (''Bitwa pod Grunwaldem'' was buried in
Lublin). After 1945 majority of his works was found and subject to
restoration. They are now mainly in
Warsaw's National Museum (Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie).
His works, disseminated in thousands of reproductions, have made him one mof the most famous painters in Poland, and became almost standard illustrations of many key events from the
Polish history.
Students
His more prominent students included
Maurycy Gottlieb,
Jacek Malczewski,
Józef Mehoffer,
Witold Pruszkowski,
Leon Wyczółkowski,
Stanislaw Wyspianski.
See also
★
Jan Matejko’s Gallery (famous paintings of his)
★
Culture of Kraków
★
Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków
References
;General
★
★
Biography based on
Polish Wikipedia (GFDL assumed). Last accessed on 20 November 2006.
;Inline
1. Jan Matejko: The Painter and Patriot. Last accessed on 20 November 2006.
2. Matejko's impact on the Polish art. Last accessed on 20 November 2006.
3. Modern Art 1851-1929, , Richard R., Brettell, Oxford University Press, 1999,
4. Painting a People, , , Mendelsohn, UPNE, 2002, ISBN 1-58465-179-2
External links
About
★
Jan Matejko 1838-1893
★
Jan Matejko 1838-1893
★
"CLOTHING AND COSTUMES..." From the Collection of Jan Matejko
★
"THE GREAT ILLUSTRATOR - THE WOODCUTS OF JAN MATEJKO"
★
JAN MATEJKO'S HOUSE
★
"ARTISTS FROM THE SCHOOL OF JAN MATEJKO"
Galleries
★
A gallery of paintings with links to biography (289 words) and bibliographical pages (12 books).
★
A gallery of paintings by Matejko.
★
Wawel gallery
★
Jan Matejko's artwork at malarze.com
★
Matejko's ''Gallery of Polish Kings''
★
Gallery at Omikron
Further reading
★
The Political Censorship of Jan Matejko, , Danuta, Batorska, Art Journal, JSTOR
العربية
ä¸å›½
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिनà¥à¤¦à¥€
Italiano
日本語
Português
РуÑÑкий
Español
