Maximilian Square in Munich at Night

Wincenty Trojanowski

Basic information

ID: Ж-12
Author: Wincenty Trojanowski
Name: Maximilian Square in Munich at Night
Date of creation: 1890
Country: Germany
Technique: oil painting
Material: canvas oil
Dimensions (height x width, cm): 58.5 x 43.5

Additionally

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

Information about author

Author: Wincenty Trojanowski
Artist's lifetime: 1859–1928
Country: Poland
Biography: Wincenty Trojanowski (22 January 1859 – 19 October 1928) was a Polish painter, sculptor, and medal designer. He studied painting from 1878 to 1880 at the Warsaw Drawing Class under W. Gerson and A. Kaminski and continued his studies at the St. Petersburg (1880–1885) and Munich (1886) Academies of Arts. In 1893, Trojanowski settled in Paris, where he trained as a sculptor. The artist participated in a variety of exhibitions. In 1901, he was awarded the Order of the Academic Palms (French: l'Ordre des Palmes académiques) for his contributions to education and science. In 1904, he founded an artistic applied arts school in Warsaw. He painted religious and genre scenes, as well as landscapes. He is also known as a sculptor and medal designer.

Object description

The creation of this painting was driven by the artist's interest in depicting cityscapes at night with artificial lighting. The artist chose the popular Maximilian Square, located in the old part of Munich and named after King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria, which was favoured by the Munich bohemian circle. The warm, diffuse light of the street lamps emerges from the darkness, illuminating the church and the four-story stone building, reflecting off their walls and allowing the artist to model the figures of a few passersby. The composition features a clear vertical rhythm created by the streetlamps, the large arches of the temple entrance, and the human figures. In the foreground on the left, a boy and a woman in a long dress with a basket in her hand are depicted. On the right, the faintly outlined figures of a lady with a dog and a gentleman are shown while a man on a penny-farthing bicycle passes by them. In the background, near the brightly lit shop window, a group of people stands.

Inscriptions

At the bottom right is the artist's signature and date: "W. Trojanowski Monachium 1890".

Legal regulation

Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery

Maximilian Square in Munich at Night

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