Oil on canvas, signed and dated ld.: "Czedekowski B. 1915"
Dimensions in frame: 98x78 cm (75x60 cm)
Boleslaw Jan Czedekowski (Wojniłów 1885 - 1969 Vienna) studied art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, where he attended classes in the studios of Kazimierz Pochwalski and Heinrich von Angeli. After completing his education in 1907, the artist traveled extensively and frequently changed his place of residence. During World War I, he served in the Austrian army, went to the United States in 1920, and three years later returned to Europe and settled in Paris for a long time. After World War II, he returned to America, but eventually settled in Vienna. Throughout this time he enjoyed visiting his native Poland. The main domain of Boleslaw Jan Czedekowski's work was realistic, academic portraits that hit the salon tastes of the public. The artist made images of the social elite - the aristocracy and well-known personalities from the circles of politics and the Church, such as President Ignacy Moscicki and Cardinal Adam Sapieha. The painter also depicted intimate genre scenes, which are de facto family group portraits. In addition to the portrait trend discussed above, Boleslaw Jen Czedekowski was also involved in landscape painting, capturing still lifes with flowers and female nudes. The events of the war prompted the artist to make several paintings with war themes. The formation of the painter's mature artistic style was influenced by the inspiration of Italian Renaissance art, 17th-century Dutch painting and 18th-century French art. Boleslaw Jan Czedekowski was a highly regarded artist, winning numerous prizes at competitive exhibitions, and was also awarded the French Legion of Honor (1934), the Cracovia totius Poloniae urbs celeberrima medal (1964) and the Order of Poland Reborn (1965). The largest collection of the artist's works is currently in the museum collection of the Łańcut Castle. His works are also part of the collections of the National Museum in Warsaw, among others.
