Olga Boznańska. Kraków – Munich – Paris

Olga Boznańska (1865-1940) painting at an easel in the studio of her home in ul. Wolska 21 in Kraków, ca. 1920. Paper photo, 12.2 x 16.9 cm, National Museum in Warsaw/Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie, Inv. Nr. DI 97315/1

Muzeum cyfrowe http://cyfrowe.mnw.art.pl

The painter of portraits, children and interiors is one of the most outstanding personalities amongst the several hundred Polish artists in the "Munich School" at the end of the 19th century. After training as an artist in Kraków she moved to Munich in 1886 to continue her studies, and three years later she opened her own studio. She spent her summers in Kraków. Today she is almost completely forgotten in Germany. By contrast she is regarded in Poland as one of the most important Polish painters. In 2014/15 the National Museums in Kraków and Warsaw honoured her with comprehensive exhibitions and publications.

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Ill. 1: Study of a Girl in a Hat with a Feather

Ill. 2: Monk drinking wine

Ill. 3: Portrait of a Young Woman with a Red Parasol

Ill. 4: Gypsy Woman

Ill. 5: Flower girl

Ill. 6: Japanese Woman

Ill. 7: After a Walk (Lady in a White Dress)

Ill. 8: Portrait of Zofia Federowicz

Ill. 9: Breton Woman II

Ill. 10: In the Orangery

Ill. 11: On Good Friday

Ill. 12: Girl with a Vegetable Basket in the Garden

Ill. 13: Portrait of a Boy in School Uniform

Ill. 14: Portrait of a Woman

Ill. 15: Portrait of a Woman with a Japanese Parasol

Ill. 16: Kasper Żelechowski (1863-1942): Olga Boznańska with a Japanese parasol

Ill. 17: In the Studio

Ill. 18: Portrait of Paul Nauen

Ill. 19: Self Portrait

Ill. 20: Self Portrait

Ill. 21: Self Portrait

Ill. 22: Study of a Woman with a Girl

Ill. 23: Girl with Chrysanthemums

Ill. 24: Portrait of a Woman in a White Blouse

Ill. 25: Girl in the Garden

Ill. 26: Two Children on the Stairs

Ill. 27: In the studio in Munich

Ill. 28: Portrait of the painter Anna Saryusz Zaleska

Ill. 29: Portrait of the painter Antoni Kamieński

Ill. 30: Portrait of a Woman in a Blue Blouse

Ill. 31: Grandmother’s Name Day

Ill. 32: Portrait of Two Girls, Helena und Władysława Chmielarczyk

Ill. 33: Portrait of the Architect Franciszek Mączyński

Ill. 34: Portrait of the Painter Maria Koźniewska-Kalinowska

Ill. 35: Portrait of the Pianist August Radwan

Ill. 36: Portrait of Zofia Kirkor-Kiedroń

Ill. 37: Portrait of Ludwig Puget

Ill. 38: Portrait of Miss Jadwiga Papara from Lviv

Ill. 39: Portrait of a Lady in a Red Hat

Ill. 40: Portrait of a Young Man in Black

Ill. 41: Portrait of a Woman in a Brown Dress

Ill. 42: Bolesław Biegas: Bust of Olga Boznańska

Ill. 43: Interior of the Artist’s Studio in Kraków

Ill. 44: Self Portrait

Ill. 45: Place des Ternes in Paris

Ill. 46: In the Studio

Ill. 47: View from the Krakòw Studio

Ill. 48: Self Portrait

Ill. 49: Olga Boznańska on the sofa with a cigarette

Ill. 50: Still Life

Ill. 51: Poppies

Ill. 52: Red Flowers

Ill. 53: Flowers

Ill. 54: Portrait of a Lady

Ill. 55: Portrait of Mrs Drzewiecka

Ill. 56: Portrait of Miss Ellen

Ill. 57: Portrait of Dr. Mélanie Lipińska

Ill. 58: Portrait of Miss Syrewicz

Ill. 59: Portrait of Julia Rylska

Ill. 60: Portrait of Maria Pfitzner

Ill. 61: Portrait of Zofia Kulaszyńska

Muzeum cyfrowe http://cyfrowe.mnw.art.pl

Nevertheless she continued to participate in exhibitions and to receive important awards. In 1925 she was awarded the highest honours at the exhibition entitled Polish Portrait/Portret Polski, mounted by the Society for the Promotion of the Fine Arts/Towarzystwo Zachęty Sztuk Pięknych in Warsaw, of which she became a member three years later. In 1928 she took part for the last time in the salon of the Société nationale des beaux-arts. Furthermore her works were exhibited in the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Science in New York. In 1929 she took part for the last time in exhibitions at the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh and the Salon des Tuileries in Paris. In August 1930 she travelled to Kraków where she remained for a year. There, in the following year, the TPSP organised a solo exhibition for her. In 1932 she exhibited for the last time in the Artists Association Sztuka in Warsaw. In the following years her works could be seen in group exhibitions of Polish art in Moscow (1933), Berlin and Warsaw (1935), Paris and Warsaw (1937), as well as in Poznań (1938). A solo exhibition of twenty-seven of her works took place in 1938 at the 21st Venice Biennale.

By the end of the twenties her financial situation had deteriorated dramatically. In 1932 her income, which mostly came from renting her house in Kraków, was no longer enough for her to travel to her home town. The Polish capital and the national Polish Culture Fund supported her to the tune of several thousand złoty in 1934. In the same year the suicide of her sister Iza led her to a physical and mental breakdown. In 1936 the Polish literary historian and publicist, Zygmunt Lubicz-Zaleski (1882-1967) purchased a few of her paintings for the Polish state. In May 1937, thanks to the commitment of the painter, Maja Berezowska (1893-1978) a Committee of Friends of Olga Boznańska/Komitet Przyjaciół Olgi Boznańskiej was set up to collect money to purchase her works through the Warsaw National Gallery. In July 1939, in her Paris studio, she was awarded the Commanders Cross of the Order Polonia Restituta by the cultural attaché at the Polish embassy. Olga Boznańska died in the Hôpital de la Pitié on 26th October 1940 and was buried at the Cimetière des Champeaux (the cemetry of the Polish community) in the town of Montmorency, north of Paris.

Axel Feuß, September 2017

Olga Boznańska. Kraków – Munich – Paris

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Olga Boznańska. Kraków – Munich – Paris
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