DOI Artikel:
Niemira, Konrad: Augustyn Mirys: nowe ustalenia i hipotezy badawcze
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.51255#0160
and new techniques. Both in the Saxon times and during the reign of Stanisław
August, the diversification of services was a proven “chance to succeed”. Therefore,
although Mirys did not make his name on the pages of art history as a talented
artist, when we consider his case in the context of the career paths and strategies
of activity chosen by painters, he appears to be a particularly interesting character.
Mirys, who worked almost exclusively for the magnates, and who created the ap-
pearance of being a court artist, was in fact guided by the same laws of demand
and the same pressure, that his contemporary artists working on the free market
dealt with. The fact that he excelled in fashionable techniques (pastel) and genres
associated with the salon modus (sujets galantes) suggests that we are dealing
with an artist who was consistently trying to instil in Warsaw the standards that
were alternative to those applicable in guild milieus or derived from guilds. This
is important - because to this day there is still no evidence that Mirys received
academic education. The fact that he consistently tried to “intellectualize” his
work and tried to build his own image as a man of the world and a philosopher
shows that academicians did not have a monopoly on artistry.43 Perhaps further
research on the artists biography and oeuvre will show that the transformations
of the local art scene that took place during the Saxon era went beyond the op-
position between the “guild painters” and the “academic painters”, and contained
a third, usually marginalized element: an energetic, capable, self-made man. •
43 On the intellectualisation of the artists image see: N. Heinich, Da peintre a lartiste: artisans
et academiciens d lagę classique, Paris 1993; Ch. Guichard, Arts liberaux et arts libres d Paris
aa xvm‘ siecle: peintres et sculpteurs entre Corporation et Academie royale, „Revue d’Histoire
Moderne et Contemporaine”, 3,2002, issue 49, pp. 54-68.
Augustyn Mirys: newfindings and hypotheses
159
August, the diversification of services was a proven “chance to succeed”. Therefore,
although Mirys did not make his name on the pages of art history as a talented
artist, when we consider his case in the context of the career paths and strategies
of activity chosen by painters, he appears to be a particularly interesting character.
Mirys, who worked almost exclusively for the magnates, and who created the ap-
pearance of being a court artist, was in fact guided by the same laws of demand
and the same pressure, that his contemporary artists working on the free market
dealt with. The fact that he excelled in fashionable techniques (pastel) and genres
associated with the salon modus (sujets galantes) suggests that we are dealing
with an artist who was consistently trying to instil in Warsaw the standards that
were alternative to those applicable in guild milieus or derived from guilds. This
is important - because to this day there is still no evidence that Mirys received
academic education. The fact that he consistently tried to “intellectualize” his
work and tried to build his own image as a man of the world and a philosopher
shows that academicians did not have a monopoly on artistry.43 Perhaps further
research on the artists biography and oeuvre will show that the transformations
of the local art scene that took place during the Saxon era went beyond the op-
position between the “guild painters” and the “academic painters”, and contained
a third, usually marginalized element: an energetic, capable, self-made man. •
43 On the intellectualisation of the artists image see: N. Heinich, Da peintre a lartiste: artisans
et academiciens d lagę classique, Paris 1993; Ch. Guichard, Arts liberaux et arts libres d Paris
aa xvm‘ siecle: peintres et sculpteurs entre Corporation et Academie royale, „Revue d’Histoire
Moderne et Contemporaine”, 3,2002, issue 49, pp. 54-68.
Augustyn Mirys: newfindings and hypotheses
159