Aleksander Szturman, Motif of the Oriental City

Alexander Szturman (Aleksander Szturman 1869-1944)
Oriental city motif
1940s, card, al., 51.3 × 42.4
Sign. AK: monogram 'AS'

Aleksander Szturman (Aleksander Szturman, 1869-1944) - painter, teacher. He grew up in Warsaw, where he graduated from the gymnasium and later studied at the Odessa Drawing School. From 1890 to 1895 he studied at the St Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts and taught at the Maria Tenisheva School of Art. At the invitation of Ferdinand Ruszczyc he settled in Vilnius. In 1923, he began his pedagogical activity at Stephen Batory University, becoming the chief assistant of the Landscape Painting Department of the Faculty of Fine Arts, and Ruszczyc's deputy. He taught students the art of still life and landscape painting. Šturman was a teacher of such artists as Vladas Drėma, Česlovas Znamierovskis, Rafael Chvoles and others.
The architecture of Vilnius became the subject of many of Šturmanas' works. The artist was a colourist of rare talent, with a very delicate sense of colour, using a very wide palette of colours, and always looking for new means of expression. The painter looked for aesthetic manifestations in the movement, change and flicker of colours, which is why he was so keen to work in nature, where he found inspiration for his paintings. He also drew inspiration for his paintings during his frequent trips to Poland and Europe. His paintings are characterised by pasty, highlighted undertones, fragmented compositions and contrasting lighting.
The artist took part in exhibitions in Warsaw, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Rome, Paris, as well as exhibitions in Italy and the Netherlands, among others. His works are in the National Museum in Warsaw, the Palenque Museum in Bialystok, museums in Russia, France and other countries.
(Based on information from Trakai Historical National Park - "Art and Epoch: Alexander Šturman (1869-1944). A Travelling Artist", http://www.seniejitrakai.lt/aleksandras-sturmanas and "Dictionary of Lithuanian Artists 1918-1944", III, ed. L. Šatavičiūtė-Natalevičienė. Vilnius, 2013; pp. 373-374).