Deskur, Józef Marian
Deskur, Józef Marian (Josef Maria Ritter von Deskur), Polish graphic artist, illustrator and painter, member of the “Munich School”. 1880-83: student at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. *20.2.1861 Warsaw, †9.10.1915 in the sanatorium near Graz. Son of the estate owner and participant in the January Uprising 1863, Andrzej Deskur (1825-1903) in Sancygniów near Pińczów. A-levels at the St. Annen grammar school in Cracow, followed by courses in philosophy in Prague and a visit to the drawing school of František Čermák (1822-1884). On the 20.10.1880 he enrols in the antiquity class at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, studies under Gabriel Hackl (1843-1926), Alois Gabl (1845-1893) and Wilhelm Lindenschmit (1829-95) and at the private painting schools of Bruno Piglhein (1848-1894) and Fritz von Uhde (1848-1911). 1883: he moves to Paris to study at the Académie Julian under Jules Joseph Lefebvre (1834-1912) and Gustave Boulanger (1824-1888). 1889: his father asks him to return home. From then on he lives in the Deskur villa/Pałac Deskurów in Sancygniów. Deskur becomes well-known for his illustrations for “Tales from 1001 Nights”, executed in an oriental style between1896 and1906 on 20 boxes in Indian ink and water colours. He mostly draws fantastic, symbolic, exotic, antiquity and genre motifs, but also paints in oils. He designs the decorations and furniture for his own villa. Deskur never sold his works. A part of his legacy was lost in 1945 after the war. A larger amount found its way into the National Museum of Kielce/Muzeum Narodowe w Kielcach. Further works can be found in the national museums in Cracow, Posen/Poznań and Warsaw and in the Sienkiewicz Museum in Oblęgork/Muzeum Henryka Sienkiewicza w Oblęgorku.
Solo exhibition: 1973 Warsaw, Galerie Ruch / 2001 Kielce, National Museum/Muzeum Narodowe w Kielcach
Further Reading: Halina Stępień/Maria Liczbińska: Artyści polscy w środowisku monachijskim w latach 1828-1914. Materiały źródłowe, Warsaw 1994, p. 13, 34; Saur Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon, vol. 26, Munich/Leipzig 2000, p. 383; Małgorzata Gorzelak: Józef Deskur (1861-1915). Artysta i ziemianin z Sancygniowa k. Pińczowa, in: Rocznik Muzeum Narodowego w Kielcach, vol. 20, Kielce 2000, pp. 131-148; Małgorzata Gorzelak: Józef Deskur (1861-1915). Fantazji tysiąć i jedna, Muzeum Narodowe w Kielcach, Kielce 2001
Online: Matriculation data base, Matriculation book 2, Academy of Fine Arts Munich, 03878 Josef Maria, Ritter von Deskur, http://matrikel.adbk.de/matrikel/mb_1841-1884/jahr_1880/matrikel-03878
Geneology: http://www.sejm-wielki.pl/b/4.381.50
On the 2001/02 Dziennik Polski exhibition: http://www.dziennikpolski24.pl/artykul/2116028,artysta-zapomniany,id,t.html
Axel Feuß, March 2017
