Male Portrait

Titus Malesewski

Basic information

ID: Ж-1687
Author: Titus Malesewski
Name: Male Portrait
Date of creation: 1897
Country: Poland
Technique: oil painting
Material: canvas oil
Dimensions (height x width, cm): 74 x 56

Additionally

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

Information about author

Author: Titus Malesewski
Artist's lifetime: 1827–1898
Country: Poland
Biography: Titus Malesewski (1827, Sieradz – 1898, Warsaw) was a Polish portrait painter, draughtsman, and master of pastels. He was the son of the court writer Martin Malesewski and Franciszka Kozarska. From 1844 to 1850, he studied at the Warsaw School of Fine Arts under A. Kokular and R. Hadziewicz. In 1856–1858, he continued his education in Paris at Leon Cogniet's studio. He initially worked as a drawing teacher in Kalisz. He travelled through Poland, Ukraine, and Lithuania, earning a living through portrait painting. During his travels, he made sketches of regional costumes and human types. He participated in the January Uprising of 1861. Between 1864 and 1865 and from 1868 to 1872, Malesewski was in Paris, where he exhibited his pastel works in salons. Two pastels created during that time, portraits of Empress Eugenie and the Italian singer Adelina Patti, exhibited in 1870, brought him recognition and numerous commissions from the Parisian society. During that time in Paris, the artist patented pastel use in photography (1864). In 1872, Malesewski organised an exhibition in Poznan featuring about 60 of his works, the proceeds from which he donated to charity. From 1873, he lived and worked in Warsaw. He taught drawing, painting, and painting restoration classes. He continued to paint portraits and compositions inspired by the works of Mickiewicz and Kraszewski. He worked in the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts committee, where he exhibited his paintings from 1860 to 1894.

Object description

A half-length portrait of a middle-aged man in glasses turned slightly to the right. The man is wearing a brown jacket, a waistcoat, and a white dickie. A grey beard covers the collar of the white shirt and the black tie (either a bow tie or a cravat). The subject's clothing nearly blends into the dark brown background. The artist focuses on the man's face, which has an elongated shape with prominent cheekbones and a high forehead. The intense gaze of his dark eyes is directed into the distance.

Inscriptions

In the bottom right, there is the artist's signature and date: "TMaleszewski 1897".

Legal regulation

Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery

Male Portrait

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