Matejko - Art As a Weapon: Painter Who Kept Poland Alive.

Five years have passed since the fall of the January Uprising against the Russian occupiers After the tortures hangings shootings and bloody battles they had not yet lost their shine The oppressed nation continued to suffer having no hope or comfort I was in Krakow the former capital it became an unbelievable event that shook In Polish society On June 14 1869 in the Wawel Cathedral The body of our monarch Kazimierza Wielkiego was discovered The nation is suffering groaning under the harshest oppression it cannot endure The tomb of one of the finest monarchs opens as if rushing to the aid of the oppressed people A prophecy of a happy future and comfort for hearts that are deep I heard about the discovery at the tomb that day and stood there a man of unremarkable height with his sketchbook At that time the passionate and careless sketcher was Jan Matejko O nim to pięknie napisał poeta Stanisław Wyspiański w rapsodzie Kazimierz Wielki He vowed to revive the nation's glory The revival of the nation's history became the painter's life's passion and mission He passed on the past so that it might live on for future generations for the future for us Pocieszał mourned and foretold the future and saw the present through the spirit of history Emerich Ranconi a critic from Vienna wrote in the newspaper after Matejka's death He had known from the beginning what he wanted and what he was striving for Driven by a passionate love for his homeland He drew the content of his works from the history of his own country In this way he fueled the patriotism of his fellow countrymen The Warsaw critic was right that Matejko was aware from the beginning of which path to take Let's look into the past He enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts at the age of thirteen but two years later in 1853 He was still a student when he painted his first patriotic painting It depicted prisoners captured tsarist officers Brought by the hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski before the face of King Sigismund III Vasa Bewildered by the country's fate as if wanting to be the nation's conscience He decided not to look for a model and identified himself with the character of Stanczyk He embodied the legendary wise fool troubled by the loss of Smolensk In contrast to the nobles playing in the background of the painting Matejko's Stańczyk is a good spirit of the nation who will be present in many paintings In 1863 the January Uprising breaks out against the Russian occupier The brothers Kazimierz and Edmund are heading to the uprising Matejko the heretic the short-sighted the flaw in vision He is unable to carry weapons so helps as he can also financially and even transports weapons to the insurgents I have a warrant for arrest and a deportation order so I must quickly finish the painting of the complaint Indeed the threat of arrest loomed over him fortunately the commander was a Czech and Matej who had Czech roots It managed to get out of trouble so it can continue to create It is struggling with a lack of resources The money for paints and the annoying cold in the studio I drown my sorrows and longings in my painting of today Although he himself is often the cause of many things he writes to his friend Exhausted from work he finished the painting in time When a bloody storm raged over Poland the peak of his life wrote Witkiewicz The hero of the canvas is Piotr Skarga the preacher of King Sigismund III delivering sermons to the nation The Kazan Khanate was characterized by diseases that ruined the country Lack of love for the homeland lack of political consensus religious anarchy weakening of royal power theft of state property Unlawful acquisition of property The main idea of the sermons was the assertion That morality is a condition for the happiness of the nation and the strength of the state Nothing to add nothing to remove A sensation in Krakow Crowds are flocking to the painting exhibition Everyone instinctively felt it That something has appeared in our country unknown to ancient times The troubled souls of the entire society In the terrible massacre that swept the entire country they felt some hope upon seeing this image But if the country's losses were great it was immediately noticed that we still had spiritual strength I have a great talent here Wrote a friend of the painter Marian Gorzkowski In Paris not everyone understood the idea of the Magi but the 26-year-old painter At the 1865 Paris Salon exhibition he receives a gold medal for the painting Sermon on the Mount This award gave the artist a high position in Europe and of course in the country where he became very popular Although for ideological reasons he did not win the favor of everyone Some people didn't like the reminder of past Polish misdeeds but the artist doesn't stop his titanic work And yet it still remembers its mission of revealing the past Show off the country' s glory and the armor reminding of and this bad harming the community The famous painting Rejtan The Fall of Poland We see here the situation Before the signing of the first partition of Poland The figures on it are responsible for the betrayal and downfall of the country And even those who were not in the Sejm at that time because the artist composed the painting according to his main idea a personal message which was the most important to him The painting exhibition became a patriotic demonstration in Krakow Those viewing it were amazed By Rejtan's courage others believed that the shameful facts of the nation should not be made public The artist collected the largest shares from conservatives and loyalists who signed That they may stand from the depths of their hearts before the most glorious Lord The image was not liked because it could also make people think about the position of the contemporary nobility and aristocracy Due to the occupier How the loyalists resented this deputy Tadeusz Rejtan who dared to protest against the first partition of Poland lying tearing the shirt and blocking the entrance to the senatorial chamber where the act of division was to be signed They didn't want to hear his shouting in their ears get off me kill me But don't kill your homeland A scream pierced through the door and behind it stood the guarantors of order Russian soldiers Catherine's guards For those whose hearts beat with patriotism and love of freedom Rejtan's death was as written a pain of despair Rejtan is a symbol The nation of Rejtan will endure forever without land but it will endure as Rejtan's memory endures and Rejtan The hero of the painting committed suicide in 1780 For Matejka after many attacks accusations and charges from loyalists and even the writer Ignacy Kraszewski and Witkiewicz began from the point of view A financially and morally difficult period Desperate and desperate as if resisting all attacks He painted a picture The death sentence for Matejka The artist suffered but the heartfelt letters from his wife Dora Pain was fading Please don't worry and report in the letter that they are writing from Paris That after the complaint is successful there will also be a place for Rejtana's exhibition I took it upon myself The place was found but Matejko has no money to go to the international exhibition What to do He comes up with an idea and sells his Death Sentence and with the money he gets from the painting goes to Paris and finds out at the committee awarded him a bronze medal The rest as in a fairy tale wrote Matejko Emperor Franz Joseph I amusing himself in Paris He bought a Rejtan painting for the sum of 24 000 Austrian florins Matejko commented They bought live ones They can therefore buy and painted ones Tantiems also poured in for the exhibition Orders for portraits arrived Jan Matejko was happy It turned out that the emperor saved Rejtan because as Gorzkowski writes the Tarnowskis The Czartoryski and Zamoyski families intervened in Paris to prevent the works from being displayed at the universal exhibition And even suggested burning him He was saved but maybe the emperor wanted to have traitors and corrupt magnates on the painting But there will always be such Poles Although Matejko had commercial success it cannot be said that Rejtan was by the French understood Some interpreted it as taking place in a casino and Rejtan had a good time Now I am sad It is probably difficult for a foreigner to understand our complicated history The artist immediately used the funds to buy a large canvas for the next painting - the Union of Lublin which was supposed to be In commemoration of the 300th anniversary of the Union of Poland and Lithuania and the creation of the great power In Europe For this reason a ceremony was to take place in Krakow Which would remind the deeply rooted nation of its The former glory Unfortunately the Austrian police banned the public celebration However the painting exhibition It was successfully organized Matejko was so exhausted from two years of work on the painting that he frightened his wife She wrote in the letter to Ja You have not yet created anything that would have moved me with such humility and devotion for you This is my last job However despite the misunderstanding Paris was a happy place for Matejka because it was there that the artist painted the picture The Lublin Union is awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of the White Eagle at the salon exhibition Despite the success The painting failed to sell and it traveled through European exhibitions which however pleased Matejka The mission of Master Jan was gaining meaning for it reminded the world that the nation was still acting and existed With pleasure it should also be noted that in 1873 at the great universal exhibition in Vienna They also included works by Kossak Siemiracki Gerson Grottger Rodakowski Brandt and Giermski The master Matejko brought a gold medal Bravo Poland has not yet perished The Czechs offer him a serious position but the master chooses Kraków and with the emperor 's approval becomes director Krakow Academy of Fine Arts For 20 years has fulfilled the duties of a teacher With a passion for painting To his students he said art is currently for us a kind of weapon in our hands It is not allowed to separate art from love of the fatherland As he taught so the master painted Upon receiving a gold medal in 1878 at the Universal Exhibition in Paris for four submitted paintings Two years later the painting "The Battle of Grunwald" arrives at the exhibition This image still shows us that harmonious cooperation and alliances with neighbors can defeat the enemies From the French government Matejko receives an honorary gift The Vase from Sevres But then after the innovative exhibitions of the impressionists the painting seemed old-fashioned unfashionable and too dramatic Paris was alive with the atmosphere of cafés lights and café discussions about new trends in art But the critic Furco wrote with full respect I stopped before the full original image The image is this It shocks amazes blinds repels and attracts It is a collection of deep issues It is wild violent and demonic It is a thrilling burst of life Kneel before the profound truth of movements In the same year the City Council of Krakow offers Matejce a symbolic staff as a sign of the master's rule in Polish art Successes however have no healing effect on the artist's personal life and Mr Jan is worried about his wife's mental illness In good health Probably has a stomach ulcer but he doesn't stop working Matejko is painting now A tribute paid to the Polish king by the defeated Prussian ruler Albert Hohenzoller The one kneeling before the Polish king In this way the Teutonic state was eliminated and Prussia became a possession of Poland This topic was inconvenient for the occupiers and was also unpopular among the Krakow loyalists who did not care for it With patriotic ideas the painter But Stańczyk that is Matejko sitting by the king aware of the situation What then happened he wonders whether Sigismund I the Old could not have used the victory more advantageously For the future of Poland A message arrives that His Imperial Majesty Emperor Franz Joseph I will visit Galicia Loyalists of Staniczy are pleased believing it to be the result of their submission and policy but with surprise They find out that the emperor would like to visit Matejka in his workshop on Floriańska Street How is that possible Visit Matejka That which spoils our mood and complicates our lives They asked if there are any loyalists The emperor entered the room of Mr Jan so the painting was hidden in the corner of the room but the emperor nevertheless He stopped in front of him asking "What is this " The governor of Galicia Alfred Potocki felt a tightness in his throat It's just a sketch so the most brilliant sir said contemptuously And the emperor went on Matejko completed the Prussian homage in 1882 and the painting was exhibited in the Cloth Merchants' Hall He received enthusiastic reviews He went to the exhibition in Paris but there despite the intervention Cesarza the artist did not receive the award and made a bold decision What He donated the painting to the national collection at Wawel when The Austrian soldiers were still stationed there Exactly They were however very dissatisfied with his proximity So the painting was taken from Wawel However thanks to Matejka 's efforts the painting was exhibited in Lviv Warsaw Berlin Rome and Vienna In Budapest In 1883 the 200th anniversary of the victory at Vienna was celebrated enthusiastically Austrians and Germans attributed it to themselves And what does Matejko do In the Austrian capital he pays for it himself He rents a room and displays a painting of John III Sobieski at Vienna showing Polish troops The imperial yet at the same time this fact emphasizes the merits of the Polish army under a Polish commander After all it is the King of Poland Jan Sobieski's bold decision halted the Turkish invasion of Vienna Bu German newspapers in Vienna claimed that the victory was the Germans' achievement and Sobieski's He played a rather insignificant role Matejka wanted as many Germans as possible to see the painting So held a free exhibition for ten days which attracted large crowds of visitors Vienna could not be surprised by the generosity of the Pole and Matejko was happy that this was his forte He remembered to whom the winner's laurel belongs Then the artist comes up with a brilliant idea to remind Europe of Poland and its tactics The decision to offer the same painting to Pope Leo XIII was intended to remind that Poland is still before The awakening of Christianity and that it saved Europe from Islam Matejko then emphasized that it is not a gift The artist's personal gift but a gift from the Polish nation Again with the same gift he caused distress It was believed that the painting should remain in the country The artist was threatened and this act was called a delusion The crowd did not understand the artist's intentions mocked and ridiculed the artist It was not understood that the entire thing was a joke The world came to the Pope thereby presenting the Polish issue before the entire world the artist showed He was written by his secretary Marian Gorzkowski Showing Poland to the world as well as reminding Poles of their history Matejko accomplished throughout his entire career in his works In the monumental works such as the May 3rd Constitution Kościuszko at Racławice Batory to Pskowem and many others many others After the paintings from the series "The History of Civilization in Poland" As if the Polish historical collection were missing only our princes and kings painted by the artist I Oto mistrz Matejko at the end of his life completes the cycle of 44 drawings for The Royal and Princely Post which has left us inheritance Let us see the most renowned ones The master of historical painting Jan Matejko died on November7 1893 The message about Matejka's death was published in 32 European newspapers He was buried in Krakow with the highest honors The bell of Zygmunt rang the sound of which the artist was listening to The legacy which the artist left us and its content lives on in us It defines our identity By the name of Poland How significant were images for Poles for example the Battle of Grunwald painting one can imagine rough the Germans' reaction who from the beginning of the occupation fiercely searched for the canvas When they attacked Poland in 1939 Two painters who were bringing from Warsaw Canvas to Lublin disappeared under bombs Others disappeared too but the Germans did not reveal where It is located in the city The stored work Similarly it was with the Prussian Halt given to Krakow Where is the painting of Matejka asks the Gestapo officer I don't know I don't know what's going on answers Father Wacław Staniszewski the rector of the church Saint Catherine's in Zamość I'm asking again where is the Prussian Homage The priest did not reveal the location and by the third day of the war the painting had been rolled up W Rulon was hidden in the basement of the church The arrested priest was taken to the camp The mayor of Zamość along with his son who helped organize the transport of the painting back to Kraków were Shot and killed People died not for the pictures and their material value but for Poland Because the pictures taught that one must live for it To fight to die to create and to conquer The history has shown that despite the loyalists and those paid by foreigners against those which seemed impossible that Poland would be independent that it turned out otherwise and it is now ours It was about independence not submission What a significant role the past plays for a nation stated Marshal Józef Piłsudski who said a nation Who does not respect his past He does not deserve the respect of the present and has no right to the future