Collection

Conversation

Jozef Mehoffer

Basic information

ID: Ж-1608
Author: Jozef Mehoffer
Name: Conversation
Date of creation: 1896
Technique: oil painting
Material: canvas oil
Dimensions (height x width, cm): 99 x 175

Additionally

Type: painting
Genre: genre art
Provenance: Collection of Lviv City Gallery
Exposition: Lozinski Palace

Information about author

Author: Jozef Mehoffer
Artist's lifetime: 1869–1946
Biography: Jozef Mehoffer had a universal artistic gift. A master of an easel and monumental painting, scenographer, graphic artist, poster designer, stained glass and textile designer, he was one of the leaders of Polish Art Nouveau. This trend came to be known as "Young Poland" (Młoda Polska). Mehoffer studied at the Faculty of Law at the Jagiellonian University, and from 1887–1894 studied at the School of Fine Arts in Krakow, under the tutelage of Izidor Jablonski, Jozef Ujejski, Władysław Łuszczkiewicz and Jan Matejko. From 1889 to 1890, he continued his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna and from 1891 to 1896 he also studied in Paris: first at the Académie Julian and at the École Nationale des Arts Décoratifs, Académie Colarossi with Joseph Blanc and Jacques Courtois, and from 1892 at the École Nationale des Beaux-Arts in the studio of Leon Bonnat. Since 1905, he was a professor at the Krakow Academy of Fine Arts and later rector of this institution. Jozef Mehoffer was married to Jadwiga Janakowska and had a son called Zbigniew. The artist lived mainly in Krakow, but travelled widely, particularly to Italy and Switzerland. He won international acclaim for his stained glass windows made between 1895 and 1936 in the Gothic collegiate church of St Nicholas in Fribourg, Switzerland. He died of tuberculosis on 8 July 1946 in Wadowice and was buried in Krakow's Rakowicki Cemetery. A museum dedicated to the artist was established at Józef Megoffer's house at 26 Krupnicza Street in Kraków.

Object description

A genre scene showing a group of people in a room against the background of a decorated wall rug during a conversation. On the left side of the canvas are three women and a red-haired man wearing a pince-nez, while another man (dark-haired, with a beard, dressed in a black suit and white shirt) stands apart from the others (shown on the right side of work), but his gaze is directed towards everyone else.

Inscriptions

On the top left is the author's signature: «Józef Mehoffer 1896».

Conversation

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