Olga Boznańska, PORTRET PANI W DIEMNEJ SUKNI

55.0 x 39.8 cm - oil, cardboard

signed in crayon p.d.: Olga Boznańska

on the reverse illegible traces of an inscription in several lines

Olga Boznańska (Krakow 1865 - Paris 1940) - prominent Polish painter - studied in Krakow, initially under her mother, drawing teacher Eugenia Mondan, later under J. Siedlecki, H. Lipinski, K. Pochwalski. In 1884-1886 she also attended the Higher Art Courses for Women at the Technical and Industrial Museum. In 1886 she went to Munich where she studied under Karl Kricherdorf and Wilhelm Dürr. From 1889 she worked independently and had her own studio in Munich. From 1895 she taught at Theodor Humel's private painting school. From Munich she traveled to the country many times, as well as to France and Switzerland. In 1898 she moved permanently to Paris, where - for years - she was one of the leading figures in the Polish art colony. She made her debut in 1886 at an exhibition at the Cracow Society of Friends of Fine Arts, and from then on constantly participated in national and international exhibitions, winning medals and awards. In 1910 she received the French Legion of Honor, and in 1938 the Polonia Restituta order. She belonged to many significant - Polish and European - art associations. The main domain of her work was portraiture - in her earlier, Munich period, often full-figured, monumental and compact in form; in her Parisian days, more intimate, atmospheric, with varied color patches subordinated to the dominance of a single tone, losing contours and blurring the focus of the plans. She also painted still lifes and, less frequently, cityscapes or genre compositions.