Polish Painting in the 19th century: An Art without a Homeland

Interesting online lecture from the National Gallery on Polish painting in the 19th century and how it was used to create an idea of Polishness when the country no longer existed.

Lydia Bauman, an educator from the gallery, led us through the history of the land mass of Poland from the start of its partition in 1733 through the 19th century and discussed how artists reacted to this.

She outlined how King Stanislaw II Augustus brought in an Italian artist to start an art school and commissioned pictures of the city from Bellotto. However this art school did not survive partition and Polish artists had to go to Munich, Vienna or St Petersburg to study where they learnt Western art techniques and genres. She then talked about how they used these styles to create a Polish culture and to promote Polish history and events.

I was introduced to lots of artists I had not come across before and particularly liked the work of Aleksander Gierymski including his picture “The Sandblasters” from 1881.

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