Collection

Portrait of Krzysztof Deyma

Ostap Biliavskyi

Basic information

ID: Ж-3417
Author: Ostap Biliavskyi
Name: Portrait of Krzysztof Deyma
Date of creation: 1782
Technique: oil painting
Material: canvas oil
Dimensions (height x width, cm): 61 x 45

Additionally

Type: painting
Genre: portraiture
Provenance: Lviv Historical Museum

Information about author

Author: Ostap Biliavskyi
Artist's lifetime: 1740–1803
Biography: Ostap (Eustachy) Biliavskyi (1740–1803) was a Ukrainian artist who worked in Western Ukraine. He is known for portrait paintings and religious artworks. He was born in the village of Horodyshche near Berezhany. In the 1760s, Ostap studied at the Academy of St. Luke in Rome. The artist lived and worked in Lviv after 1771. He painted numerous portraits of burghers on order. In the late 1790s and early 1800s, he created a gallery of portraits of Armenian archbishops. In addition to portrait painting, Ostap Biliavskyi was engaged in monumental painting. A significant collection of works by Ostap Biliavskyi has been preserved nowadays.

Object description

Ostap Biliavskyi started his creative activity in 1760, when the traditions of the local artists’ guilds were still preserved. The artist had a lot of orders and was popular with customers in Lviv. There are a significant number of portraits painted by Ostap Biliavskyi. The portrait of Krzysztof Deyma is considered to be a masterpiece by Ostap Biliavskyi. It is known that the portrayed man was an active figure of Stavropigion and posed for the artist, being over the age of 50. The portrait shows a waist-length image of Deyma. The look of his brown eyes is directed to the side. The features of the man's face are depicted in detail; the posture of the portrayed person is reproduced with the same accuracy. Admiring the passementerie of his kontusz and the illusory reproduction of the texture of various fabrics, it becomes clear enough why this artist was so popular. The soft and warm colours of the portrait, light reflexes on the white satin zhupan, and a skillful detailing of portrait elements create an image imbued with lyricism and intimacy.

Portrayed person

The name of the person portrayed: Krzysztof Deyma

Portrait of Krzysztof Deyma

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