Collection

Grey Horse’s Head

Jan Matejko

  • Grey Horse’s Head 2
Basic information
ID
Ж-76
Author
Jan Matejko
Name
Grey Horse’s Head
Date of creation
1886
Country
Poland
Culture
Eastern Europe
Technique
oil painting
Material
canvas oil
Dimensions (height x width, cm)
85 x 61
Additionally
Information about author
Author
Jan Matejko
Artist's lifetime
1838–1893
Biography
Jan Alojzy Matejko (born 24 June 1838 in Krakow - died 1 November 1893 in Krakow) - famous Polish painter, graphic artist and teacher. In 1852 he began studying painting at the Krakow School of Fine Arts (now the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts). Studied at Wojciech Korneli Stattler and Władysław Łuszczkiewicz. The artist graduated from the Krakow Academy of Fine Arts in 1858 and after that, he studied for two more years in Munich with Hermann Anschütz, where the young artist experienced a period of fascination with the historical painting of French painter Paul Delaroche. The artist participated in numerous art exhibitions. He travelled frequently to Paris and Vienna and visited Prague, Budapest, Berlin, London, Istanbul and many locations in Italy. He became the head of Krakow School of Fine Arts in 1873 and remained at its head until his death. His students included such outstanding Polish painters as Jacek Malczewski, Stanislaw Wyspiański, Jozef Mehoffer. Jan Matejko's artistic heritage - it is more than three hundred paintings: portraits and paintings on historical, religious and allegorical themes, as well as several hundreds of graphic drawings and sketches. The B. Voznytsky Lviv National Art Gallery holds some of the best works of this outstanding Polish artist.
Object description
Sketch, stuydy of a horse from life. Grey-haired horse's head in profile. The horse is depicted in The Maid of Orleans (1886) with Karl VII sitting on it.
Inscriptions
Author's signature and date on the bottom left: "JM. r 1886"