Henryk Siemiradzki

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Henryk Siemiradzki
Henryk Siemiradzki, c. 1875
Birth name	Henryk Siemiradzki
Born	October 24, 1843 Novobelgorod (now Pechenegi), Russia
Died	August 23, 1902 (aged 58) Strzalkowo, Austria-Hungary
Nationality	Polish
Field	Painting
Training	Imperial Academy of Arts
Movement	Academism
Works	Nero's torches, curtain for the Juliusz Słowacki Theatre in Kraków, curtain for the Lwów Theatre
Influenced by	Karl Bryullov, Konstantin Makovsky

Henryk Siemiradzki (full name in Polish: Henryk Hektor Siemiradzki; 24 October 1843 – 23 August 1902) was a Polish 19th century painter active in the period of foreign Partitions of Poland, and best remembered for his monumental Academic art. He was particularly known for his depictions of scenes from the ancient Graeco-Roman world and the New Testament, owned by national galleries of Poland, Russia and Ukraine.^[1]^[2]
Many of his paintings depict scenes from antiquity, often the sunlit pastoral scenes or compositions presenting the lives of early Christians. He also painted biblical and historical scenes, landscapes, and portraits. His best known works include monumental curtains for the Lviv (Lwów) Theatre of Opera and for the Juliusz Słowacki Theatre in Kraków (below).

Biography

Siemiradzki's artistic career

Siemiradzki was born to a Polish noble szlachta family of a military physician, Hipolit Siemiradzki, and Michalina (nee Prószyńska)^[3] in the village of Bilhorod (Białogród),^[1]^[4] or Novobelgorod (now Pechenegi, sources vary)^[2] near the city of Kharkiv in the Russian Empire (now Ukraine). His parents were close friends with Adam Mickiewicz's family. Henryk Siemiradzki studied at Kharkiv Gymnasium where he first learned painting under the local school teacher, D.I. Besperchy, former student of Karl Briullov.^[3] He entered the Physics-Mathematics School of Kharkov University and studied natural sciences there with great interest, but also continued to paint.^[3]
After graduating from the University with the degree of Kandidat he abandoned his scientific career and moved to Saint Petersburg to study painting at the Imperial Academy of Arts in the years 1864–1870. Upon his graduation he was awarded a gold medal. In 1870–1871 he studied under Karl von Piloty in Munich on a grant from the Academy. In 1872 he moved to Rome and with time, built a studio there on Via Gaeta, while spending summers at his estate in Strzałkowo near Częstochowa in Poland.
In 1873 he received the title of Academician of the Imperial Academy of Arts for his painting Christ and a Sinner, based on a verse from Tolstoy. In 1878 he received the French National Order of the Legion of Honour and a Gold Medal of the Paris World's fair for the painting Flower vase. In 1876–1879 Siemiradzki worked on frescoes for the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (Moscow) among his other large-scale projects. In 1879 he offered one of his best-known works, the enormous Pochodnie Nerona (Nero's torches), painted around 1876, to the newly-formed Polish National Museum. The artwork is on display at the Siemiradzki Room of the Sukiennice Museum in the Kraków Old Town, the most popular branch of the museum today. Around 1893 Siemiradzki worked on two large paintings for the State Historical Museum (Moscow) and in 1894 produced his monumental curtain for the Juliusz Słowacki Theatre in Kraków.^[2]
He died in Strzałkowo in 1902 and was buried originally in Warsaw, but later his remains were moved to the national Pantheon on Skałka in Kraków.

Siemiradzki's monumental paintings

Henryk Siemiradzki's large-scale canvasses, influenced by the French Académie des Beaux-Arts, are on display at the national museums of Poland, Russia and Ukraine; notably, at the Sukiennice Museum, the National Museum, Poznań, Lviv National Art Gallery, Tretyakov Gallery and others.