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Portrait of Teofila Makomaska

Jan Matejko

Basic information

ID: Ж-31
Author: Jan Matejko
Name: Portrait of Teofila Makomaska
Date of creation: 1865
Country: Poland
Culture: Eastern Europe
Technique: oil painting
Material: canvas oil
Dimensions: 78.5 x 63 cm (height x width)

Additionally

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

Information about author

Author: Jan Matejko
Author in the original: Jan Alojzy Matejko
Artist's lifetime: 1838–1893
Country: Poland
Biography: Jan Alojzy Matejko (born 24 June 1838 in Krakow – died 1 November 1893 in Krakow) – a 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). He studied at Wojciech Korneli Stattler and Wladyslaw Luszczkiewicz. 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 Wyspianski, Jozef Mehoffer. Jan Matejko's artistic heritage includes more than three hundred paintings: portraits and paintings on historical, religious and allegorical themes, as well as several hundreds of graphic drawings and sketches. Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery holds some of the best works of this outstanding Polish artist.

Object description

The portrait of a young woman is depicted in an oval. Her blond hair is curled, with a red rose attached to it. She has gold jewellery around her neck and a black silk scarf wrapped around her shoulders. Teofila Gorajska married Antoni Makomaski in 1846, and they had three children. The family lived in the village of Turkowice. There is an assumption that the portrait was made from a photograph, as it shows a young girl. However, Teofila was already 41 years old at the time.

Inscriptions

In the centre left is the signature and date: "JM. rp.1865"

Portrayed person