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Portrait of Samuel Hirszenberg

Olga Boznanska

Basic information

ID: Ж-17
Author: Olga Boznanska
Name: Portrait of Samuel Hirszenberg
Date of creation: 1905
Country: France
Technique: oil painting
Material: cardboard oil
Dimensions (height x width, cm): 77.5 x 58.5

Additionally

Type: painting
Genre: portraiture
Plot: Portrait
Provenance: Collection of Lviv City Gallery
Exposition: Lozinski Palace

Information about author

Author: Olga Boznanska
Artist's lifetime: 1865–1940
Country: Poland
Biography: Olga Boznanska was a Polish artist, portraitist, and an important figure in modernist painting; she developed her own style based on the principles of Realism and Impressionism, as well as under the influences of Velázquez, Whistler, and Manet. She was a member of various art associations. In 1898, she moved to Paris; she was a member of the Munich School, the Society of Polish Artists "Sztuka" (1898), and Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts (National Society of Fine Arts) (1901). She was born in Krakow. The family, in which the future artist grew up, was quite modest. However, from an early age, Olga gained artistic skills with Antoni Piotrowski and Kazimierz Teofil Pochwalski. From 1886 to 1889, she studied art in private schools of such artists as Karl Kricheldorf and Wilhelm Dürr, given that in those years women were not permitted to gain knowledge at higher educational establishments. After completing her studies, Olga began to demonstrate her works to the general public, organizing exhibitions in big cities such as Munich, Vienna, and Warsaw; she received several awards in London, Munich, and Paris. At the beginning of the twentieth century, in 1901, an exhibition of the works by Olga Boznanska was organized in Pittsburgh. Eleven years later, Olga Boznanska together with such outstanding artists as Claude Monet and Auguste Renoir, organized a new exhibition in the same city, representing France with her works. In 1939, she received the Grand Prix award at the World Expo in Paris. A year later, she took part in the Venice Biennale. The artist's life ended in 1940 during her stay in Paris. Olga Boznanska's works are stored in Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery, as well as in Polish museums, namely in the National Museum in Warsaw, the National Museum in Krakow, and the National Museum in Kielce.

Object description

Olga Boznanska created many portraits of people from the art world. The artist knew two brothers – artists Samuel and Leon Hirszenberg. In the last years of her stay in Munich, Olga Boznanska studied painting with the eldest of them, Samuel. He worked in Krakow, Paris, Munich, and Jerusalem. He mainly painted genre scenes. This portrait belongs to the Paris period of Boznanska's oeuvre. The work is executed in the artist's typical style, influenced by Edouard Manet, characterised by the restriction to several primary colours and the rejection of a clear line and contour. Against a greenish-blue spatial background, a man with a beard and moustache dressed in black is depicted. He is seated with his left hand supporting his head and his right hand resting on his knees. The psychological aspect of the portrait is interesting. The position of his hands and the nervous expression of his face with restless round eyes convey deep anxiety and thoughtfulness to the viewer. The work was awarded a gold medal at an international exhibition in Munich in 1905.

Inscriptions

At the top right is the author's signature: "Olga Boznańska Paris".

Portrayed person