Drapiewski, Władysław und Leon
Drapiewski, Władysław, Polish church painter and conserver. From 1899: trained at the School of Religious Painting in Kevelaer and at the Berlin Art Academy. *12.11.1876 Gacki near Świecie, †30.12.1961 Pelplin. Brother of the painter Leon Drapiewski, *1.8.1885, †6.7.1970 Poznań, a member of the “Munich School”; and of Kazimierz Drapiewski (*1889). From 1899 Władysław Drapiewski studies at the School of Religious Painting of Friedrich Franz Maria Stummel (1850-1919) in Kevelaer, a church painter influenced by the Nazarenes in the Düsseldorf School. Subsequently he attends the Berlin Art Academy and the Académie Julian in Paris. 1904: he travels to Italy and studies Renaissance painting. Between 1908 and 1935 he is a member of the Association of Religious Art in Munich. On the 4.11.1908 Leon Drapiewski enrols in the drawing class at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, studies under Peter Halm (1854-1923) and later supports Władysław in his work. From 1918: resident in Pelplin. In 1928 Władysław Drapiewski is awarded the Lateran Cross by Pope Pius XI for services to church painting; in 1958 Pope Pius XII awards him the Knights Cross of the Order of St. George. Władysław Drapiewski is one of the most important modern muralists in churches in Poland and works mainly in the dioceses of Płock and Chełm. Between 1904 and 1914 and after 1920 he completes important murals in the cathedral at Płock in the neo-Renaissance style in mineral paints, including sketches for stained-glass windows. In 1913 he paints murals in neo-Renaissance, neo-gothic and Secession style in the church at Czerwińsk nad Wisłą. Till 1935: murals in the church at Łuck and in the Collegiate Church at Pułtusk. His oil paintings include altar paintings and portraits of church dignitaries. His works can be found in the Diocesan Museum/Muzeum Diecezjalne in Płock.
Solo exhibition: 1965 Płock, Diocesan Museum/Muzeum Diecezjalne
Group exhibition: 1912 Krefeld, exhibition of religious art (gold medal)
Further Reading: Halina Stępień/Maria Liczbińska: Artyści polscy w środowisku monachijskim w latach 1828-1914. Materiały źródłowe, Warsaw 1994, p. 24, 35 (Leon); Saur Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon, vol. 29, Munich/Leipzig 2001, p. 329 (Władysław)
Online: Matriculation data base, Matriculation book 3, Academy of Fine Arts Munich, 03615 Leo Drapiewski, http://matrikel.adbk.de/matrikel/mb_1884-1920/jahr_1908/matrikel-03615
Biography at heltechnik.pl, http://www.heltechnic.pl/info_W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Drapiewski
Axel Feuß, March 2017
