DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.41455#0207
Konrad
Krzyzanowski
1872 Krzemienczuk in the Ukraine - 1922 Warsaw
Konrad Krzyzanowski was born into an impove-
rished family of Polish nobility that had settled in
the Ukraine. His father was a clerk in the Russian
administration. As a child, Krzyzanowski lived in Kiev.
In the years 1887-1891 he attended secondary school
there, which he was prevented from finishing by finan-
cial problems. At the same time, he attended the paint-
ing school of Nikolai Murashko. In 1892, he went to St
Petersburg and enrolled in the Imperial Academy of Fine
Arts as an external student. He had to earn a living as a
tax-office employee, so for the first two years he was
only able to study drawing at evening classes. In 1895—
1897, he was a student of Klavdi Lebedev and Ivan Tva-
rozhnikov. At the Academy, he also benefited from the
advice of two eminent Russian artists - the painter of
historical scenes Ilya Repin, and the landscape artist Ar-
khip Kuindzhi. Early in 1897, a conflict between Krzyza-
nowski and the Head of the Academy, Anton Tomish-
ko, led to student riots, a strike and the suspension of
classes. Krzyzanowski was expelled from the Academy
and left for Munich, where he continued his education
at the private painting school of Simon Hollossy until
1900. During his studies there, a scholarship from the
“Polonia” Society allowed him to visit Italy. He also ac-
companied Hollossy on plein-air sessions in Hungary.
In 1900, Krzyzanowski settled in Warsaw and estab-
lished close contacts with the circles of the Warsaw Arti-
stic Society and the Chimera journal, to which he contribut-
ed numerous illustrations (many of these were copies of
Japanese woodcuts). Krzyzanowski soon opened his own
school of painting. In 1903, he moved together with his
students to Munich again, where he resumed studies un-
der Hollossy. A year later Kazimierz Stabrowski appoint-
ed him Professor of the Warsaw School of Fine Arts.
Annual plein-air sessions with students were an im-
portant component of Krzyzanowski’s teaching method.
These were held in Arkadia near Lowicz (1904), Zwie-
rzyniec in the Lublin district (1903), Istebna in the Sile-
sian Beskid Mountains (1906), Werki near Vilno, and in
Finland (1908). Wintertime plein-air sessions were organ-
ized in Rybiniszki near Vilno. In the course of those
trips, Krzyzanowski instructed his students in landscape
painting, studies of a model and drawing; he also paint-
ed his own excellent landscapes.
In 1907, Krzyzanowski married Michalina Piotruszew-
ska, a student of his from the School of Fine Arts. Two
years later he resigned his professorship in the after-
math of Stabrowski’s removal from the post of the Head
of the School. Shortly after handing in his notice, he
took his students for the last plein-air session in Alexan-
dria near Bila Tserkva in the Ukraine. Soon afterwards
he resumed teaching in his own school.
In spite of his teaching duties and preoccupation with
creative work, Krzyzanowski occasionally managed to
find time for foreign travel. In 1907, he made a trip to
Italy and in 1912 stayed in Paris and London for a lon-
ger time. The outbreak of the First World War caught
him in his wife’s estate of Peremyl in Volhynia. In 1913,
he went to visit his relatives in the Polesie region, where
he was arrested while painting a landscape on a charge
of espionage. Released early the following year, he
moved to Kiev, where he took a very active part in the
cultural life of the local Polish community. In late 1917
and early 1918, Krzyzanowski taught at the Polish School
of Fine Arts in Kiev. At an exhibition held in that city in
1918, he showed about a hundred works.
In 1918, Krzyzanowski returned to Warsaw, where an
individual exhibition was organized for him already in
November that year. The artist soon opened another
private art school. He taught painting and drawing, and
accompanied his students on plein-air sessions in Plock
and Kartuzy.
Konrad Krzyzanowski never matched Malczewski or
Wyspiariski in popularity, although his painting belongs
to the most original art of the Young Poland period. He
was held in great esteem by his students, many of whom
reached considerable artistic success. From 1899, Krzy-
zanowski regularly exhibited at home and abroad. Until
the First World War, he maintained the close contacts he
established with the Russian artistic milieu in the course
of his studies, and exhibited with the group “Soyuz Rus-
skikh Khudozhnikov” (Russian Painters’ Union).
At Konrad Krzyzanowski’s monograph exhibition held
in Warsaw in 1980, about 120 of his oil paintings were
collected - mostly portraits and landscapes. In both these
genres, the artist showed virtuoso skills and a penchant
for highly expressive effects.
214
Krzyzanowski
1872 Krzemienczuk in the Ukraine - 1922 Warsaw
Konrad Krzyzanowski was born into an impove-
rished family of Polish nobility that had settled in
the Ukraine. His father was a clerk in the Russian
administration. As a child, Krzyzanowski lived in Kiev.
In the years 1887-1891 he attended secondary school
there, which he was prevented from finishing by finan-
cial problems. At the same time, he attended the paint-
ing school of Nikolai Murashko. In 1892, he went to St
Petersburg and enrolled in the Imperial Academy of Fine
Arts as an external student. He had to earn a living as a
tax-office employee, so for the first two years he was
only able to study drawing at evening classes. In 1895—
1897, he was a student of Klavdi Lebedev and Ivan Tva-
rozhnikov. At the Academy, he also benefited from the
advice of two eminent Russian artists - the painter of
historical scenes Ilya Repin, and the landscape artist Ar-
khip Kuindzhi. Early in 1897, a conflict between Krzyza-
nowski and the Head of the Academy, Anton Tomish-
ko, led to student riots, a strike and the suspension of
classes. Krzyzanowski was expelled from the Academy
and left for Munich, where he continued his education
at the private painting school of Simon Hollossy until
1900. During his studies there, a scholarship from the
“Polonia” Society allowed him to visit Italy. He also ac-
companied Hollossy on plein-air sessions in Hungary.
In 1900, Krzyzanowski settled in Warsaw and estab-
lished close contacts with the circles of the Warsaw Arti-
stic Society and the Chimera journal, to which he contribut-
ed numerous illustrations (many of these were copies of
Japanese woodcuts). Krzyzanowski soon opened his own
school of painting. In 1903, he moved together with his
students to Munich again, where he resumed studies un-
der Hollossy. A year later Kazimierz Stabrowski appoint-
ed him Professor of the Warsaw School of Fine Arts.
Annual plein-air sessions with students were an im-
portant component of Krzyzanowski’s teaching method.
These were held in Arkadia near Lowicz (1904), Zwie-
rzyniec in the Lublin district (1903), Istebna in the Sile-
sian Beskid Mountains (1906), Werki near Vilno, and in
Finland (1908). Wintertime plein-air sessions were organ-
ized in Rybiniszki near Vilno. In the course of those
trips, Krzyzanowski instructed his students in landscape
painting, studies of a model and drawing; he also paint-
ed his own excellent landscapes.
In 1907, Krzyzanowski married Michalina Piotruszew-
ska, a student of his from the School of Fine Arts. Two
years later he resigned his professorship in the after-
math of Stabrowski’s removal from the post of the Head
of the School. Shortly after handing in his notice, he
took his students for the last plein-air session in Alexan-
dria near Bila Tserkva in the Ukraine. Soon afterwards
he resumed teaching in his own school.
In spite of his teaching duties and preoccupation with
creative work, Krzyzanowski occasionally managed to
find time for foreign travel. In 1907, he made a trip to
Italy and in 1912 stayed in Paris and London for a lon-
ger time. The outbreak of the First World War caught
him in his wife’s estate of Peremyl in Volhynia. In 1913,
he went to visit his relatives in the Polesie region, where
he was arrested while painting a landscape on a charge
of espionage. Released early the following year, he
moved to Kiev, where he took a very active part in the
cultural life of the local Polish community. In late 1917
and early 1918, Krzyzanowski taught at the Polish School
of Fine Arts in Kiev. At an exhibition held in that city in
1918, he showed about a hundred works.
In 1918, Krzyzanowski returned to Warsaw, where an
individual exhibition was organized for him already in
November that year. The artist soon opened another
private art school. He taught painting and drawing, and
accompanied his students on plein-air sessions in Plock
and Kartuzy.
Konrad Krzyzanowski never matched Malczewski or
Wyspiariski in popularity, although his painting belongs
to the most original art of the Young Poland period. He
was held in great esteem by his students, many of whom
reached considerable artistic success. From 1899, Krzy-
zanowski regularly exhibited at home and abroad. Until
the First World War, he maintained the close contacts he
established with the Russian artistic milieu in the course
of his studies, and exhibited with the group “Soyuz Rus-
skikh Khudozhnikov” (Russian Painters’ Union).
At Konrad Krzyzanowski’s monograph exhibition held
in Warsaw in 1980, about 120 of his oil paintings were
collected - mostly portraits and landscapes. In both these
genres, the artist showed virtuoso skills and a penchant
for highly expressive effects.
214