Size: 15.5 x 15.5 cm (in light of passe-partout)
on the reverse a paper exhibition sticker of the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in the Kingdom of Poland in Warsaw
Origin
DESA Unicum, September 2014
private collection, Poland
Exhibited
Posthumous exhibition of works by Józef Simmler, Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in the Kingdom of Poland, Warsaw, 1904
Literature
Janina Wiercińska, Catalogue of works exhibited at the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in Warsaw in 1860-1914, Wrocław-Warszawa-Kraków 1969, p. 336 (171 works from the artist's posthumous exhibition are listed collectively)
Report of the Committee of the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in the Kingdom of Poland for 1904, Warsaw 1905, p. 33 (171 works from the artist's posthumous exhibition are listed collectively)
Catalog of works by Jozef Simmler exhibited in the building of the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in the Kingdom of Poland in 1904, Warsaw 1904, p. 15, cat. no. 197 (listed under nos. 164-210: sketches, studies and drawings)
Biography
Academician and historical painter, author of the famous painting "Death of Barbara Radziwillowna". Simmler began his studies at the private school of Josef Richter and continued at the academies in Dresden and Munich (including Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld). He made his debut in 1845 in Warsaw at the Public Exhibition of the School of Fine Arts. He spent the years 1847-49 in Paris, where he came into contact with Paul Delaroch. In 1849 he settled permanently in Warsaw and took up portrait art. In the 1850s, he joined the artists who supported Wojciech Gerson in his efforts to establish an institution to organize art exhibitions. From 1860 he co-founded the Society of Fine Arts. In addition to portraits, he painted allegorical, historical and religious scenes. Large sets of his works are held by the National Museum in Warsaw and the National Museum in Cracow.
