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Medal “Aleksander Groza"

Wladyslaw Oleszczynski

Basic information

ID: С-II-604
Author: Wladyslaw Oleszczynski
Name: Medal “Aleksander Groza"
Date of creation: after 1858
Country: Kingdom of Poland (?)
Culture: Modern times
Technique: moulding
Material: bronze
Dimensions (diameter, cm): 12.5

Additionally

Type: sculpture (relief)
Genre: portraiture
Plot: Portrait
Provenance: the Dzieduszycki collection

Information about author

Author: Wladyslaw Oleszczynski
Artist's lifetime: 1807–1866
Country: Duchy of Warsaw, Kingdom of Poland
Biography: Władysław Tomasz Kazimierz Oleszczyński (December 17, 1807 – April 11, 1866) was a Polish sculptor, medallist, and graphic artist. The future artist was born in Koniaków to the family of magistrate Kazimierz Oleszczyński and Salomea, née Kosinska. His godfather was Franciszek Zablocki (1752–1821), a Polish writer, poet, and publicist. W. Oleszyński's two older brothers, graphic artist Antoni (1794–1879) and lithographer and illustrator Seweryn (1801–1876), were also prominent artists. In 1824, W. Oleszczyński began studying at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the Royal University of Warsaw; a year later, he received a government scholarship, which enabled him to study in France. The artist's teachers were F. J. Heim (drawing) and A. L. Dantan (sculpture). In 1825–1830, W. Oleszczyński continued his studies in Paris, studying sculpture at the School of Fine Arts under Pierre-Jean David d'Angers and medal art at the Paris Mint under Nicolas-Pierre Tiolier. In May 1830, the master returned to Poland and worked for some time at the Warsaw Mint. Soon after, he took part in the November Uprising, and after its defeat, he emigrated. From 1832 to 1857, he lived in Paris. In 1857, he lived in Poznań, and later, from 1858 to 1863, in Warsaw, where he had a workshop in the Royal Castle and received numerous private commissions. In 1865, he was in Warsaw, from where he left for Rome. The artist died in Rome on August 11, 1866, and was buried in the Le Champs cemetery in Montmorency, Paris. W. Oleszczyński is considered the most outstanding representative of Romanticism in Polish sculpture. The master created numerous monuments and tombstones for representatives of the Polish émigré community, as well as portrait statuettes, bronze medallions, and medals. He conceived a medallion gallery of Polish writers, which included, in particular, images of J. Bartoszewicz, K. Wojcicki, and J. Kraszewski – some of the best in the artist's oeuvre. W. Oleszczyński created the first monument to A. Mickiewicz in Poland on the square in front of St. Martin's Church in Poznań, unveiled in 1859. The main materials used by the sculptor were marble, bronze, plaster, and clay. His main graphic techniques were lithography and copperplate engraving.

Object description

Aleksander Groza (June 30, 1807 – November 3, 1875) was a Polish poet of romanticism and artist. He was a representative of the "Ukrainian school" in Polish literature. He was the younger brother of writer Sylwester Wężyk Groza (1793–1849). He came from a wealthy noble family. He received a comprehensive and thorough education, including studying at the medical faculty of Vilnius University. He later settled on the family estate, where he devoted himself to literary activities. In 1831, A. Groza's first poems were published in the Vilnius Lithuanian New Year's Journal, and five years later, his most famous novel, "Starosta Kaniowski", was published. In 1838–1842, the young writer published collections of poems by Lithuanian and Ukrainian authors in Vilnius. In 1848, readers were introduced to the novel "Wladyslaw: An Excerpt from Little-Known Diaries". A. Groza completed another novel in this genre, "Mosaic of Contracts: Diary of 1851", in 1857. Soon after, the writer moved to Berdychiv, where he worked as a teacher, and later to Zhytomyr, where he became a co-organiser of the "Book Publishing Society" – a company that published inexpensive books, including primers edited by Groza. Groza's last work was the detective story "Twardowski" (1873), based on folk legends about Faust. A collection of his works was published in 1858 in two parts. He spent the last five years of his life in Khalaym-Gorodok, in the house of his friend, Polish historian Eustachy Ivanovsky (1813–1903).

Inscriptions

"Alex: Groza".

Portrayed person