Ajdukiewicz, Zygmunt
Ajdukiewicz, Zygmunt (Sigismund von Ajdukiewicz), Polish painter and illustrator, member of the “Munich School”. 1983-85: student at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich/Akademie der Bildenden Künste München. *21.2. (20.3.?) 1861 Witkowice near Tarnobrzeg, †26.3. (20.4., 26.4.?) 1917, Vienna. Cousin of the painter Tadeusz Ajdukiewicz. Initially he studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków/Akademia Sztuk Pięknych w Krakowie, then between 1880 and 1882 at the Vienna Art Academy under Christian Griepenkerl (1839-1912). 1883-85: studies at the Munich Academy under Johann Caspar Herterich (1843-1905) and Wilhelm Lindenschmit (1829-95). On the 28.10.1885 the matriculation book shows that he has enrolled in the nature class at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts/Königlichen Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Munich. After completing his studies he goes to Vienna, where his cousin Tadeusz introduces him to the aristocracy and helps him to a career at the Imperial Court. From 1891: a member of the Vienna Artists’ House. 1893: travels to Paris. At the end of the 19th century he spends some time in Sarajevo working as an illustrator for the periodical Nada. His many prizes and awards include: 1891 Vienna, 1896 Berlin: Major Gold Medal; 1891 Vienna: Arch-Duke Karl-Ludwig Medal; 1894 Lemberg/Lwów: silver medal at the exhibition of contemporary art. Ajdukiewicz begins with carefully executed genre scenes. In Vienna he paints pictures from Polish history, hunting, market and military scenes as well as portraits. He makes a name for himself as a painter of horses in a light, fluid style, and as a result of a series of twelve drawings from the life of Tadeusz Kościuszko (1746-1817). His works can be found in the National Museum in Warsaw/Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie, in the National Museum in Kraków/Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie, in the Upper Silesian Museum in Bytom/Muzeum Górnośląskie w Bytomiu, in the National Museum in Breslau/Muzeum Narodowe we Wrocławiu; and also in the Town Hall, in the Neuen Hofburg and the Österreichischen Länderbank in Vienna.
Solo exhibitions: 1901, 1917 Vienna, Künstlerhaus.
Group exhibitions: 1883-1902 Cracow / 1886-1911 Warsaw, Society of the Friends of the Fine Arts/Towarzystwo Zachęty Sztuk Pięknych / 1888-1902 Vienna, Berlin, Munich, Prague / 1919 Posen/Poznań, Salon of the Artists’ Association
Further Reading: Saur Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon, vol. 1, Munich/Leipzig 1992, p. 686 f.; Halina Stępień/Maria Liczbińska: Artyści polscy w środowisku monachijskim w latach 1828-1914. Materiały źródłowe, Warsaw 1994, p. 15, 27
Online: Matriculation data base, Matriculation book 3, Academy of Fine Arts Munich, 00182 Sigmund Ajdukiewicz, http://matrikel.adbk.de/matrikel/mb_1884-1920/jahr_1885/matrikel-00182
Axel Feuß, March 2017
