Polnisches Mädchen by Teodor Axentowicz

Teodor Axentowicz's portrait of young and fragile, attractive women, most of which are created in the technique of pastels.

The Polish woman's costume includes a white blouse, a vest that is embroidered and beaded on front and back, a floral full skirt, an apron, a red coral bead necklace, and lace-up boots. Unmarried women and girls may wear a flower wreath with ribbons while married women wear a white kerchief on their head.

Kabotek a short waist shift with puffed, elbowlength sleeves. Wedding version of the shirt has long sleeves. Trimming of a thin collar, named lemiec, was embroidered a half cross stitch in black or brown. The item of clothing is velvet and usually black or claret.

cap were embroidered in small motifs, stars or dots. Czepiec is tied at the back and covered with usually linen cloth. Commonly are silk cherry-gold or dark brown silk clothes, with a floral motif.

Author:Teodor Axentowicz
Tirle: Polish girl
Polnisches Mädchen
Description: Mädchen. Signiert.
Polnisches Pastell. 62 x 40 cm
Date by 1938
Medium pastel on paper


Teodor Axentowicz
May 13, 1859 - Aug 26, 1938

Teodor Axentowicz was a Polish-Armenian painter and university professor. He was a portraist,also dealt with illustrative graphics and poster design while worked as an illustrator in magazines and made copies of paintings by former masters, among others. Axentowicz was famous for his portraits and subtle scenes of Hutsul life, set in the Carpathians. He was also the rector of the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków.

Between 1879 and 1882 he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. From there he moved to Paris, where he was a student of Carolus-Duran and continued his education until 1895. During that time he started a long-time cooperation with various journals and started his career as a copyist, duplicating the works of Tizian and Botticelli for Le Monde illustré. He also made numerous travels to London and Rome, where he prepared a set of portraits, one of the first in his career.

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In the years 1890-1899 he made many trips to London and Rome, where he painted portraits of women and the Polish aristocracy. In 1894 he started collaboration with Wojciech Kossak and Jan Styka during the preparation of the Racławice Panorama, one of the largest panoramic paintings in the history of Polish art. The following year he moved to Kraków, where he became a professor at the local Academy of Fine Arts. He was also active in the local society and cooperated with various societies devoted to propagation of arts and crafts. In 1897 he founded an artistic conservatory for women and soon afterwards became one of the founders of the Sztuka society.

In 1904 at the St. Louis World's Fair, Axentowicz received a Special Commemorative Award in recognition of distinguished service in connection with various national sections of the Department of Art. In 1910 he became the rector of the Academy and since 1928 was also an honorary member of the Zachęta Society. While in Paris, he received the prestigious title of Officier d'Académie Ordre des Palmes Académiques and Member of Académie des Beaux-Arts.

He was awarded many gold metals at both national and international exhibitions. Throughout his life he had numerous exhibitions, both in Poland and abroad. In addition to Society of Polish Artists "Sztuka", he was also a member of Hagenbund and a founding member of the Vienna Secession.
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