Józef Krasnowolski “Senior”

Oil on canvas signed lower right: "J. Krasnowolski"

Framed: 99x84 cm (74x60 cm)

Józef Krasnowolski (Kwidzyn 1879 - 1939 Kraków) was a Polish painter. Krasnowolski first studied art in Warsaw with Wojciech Gerson (from 1896), then in Academy of Fine Art in Kraków with Jacek Malczewski (1898-1900) and with Leon Wyczółkowski (1900/1901). He completed his education by studying in Munich (1901–1902). During an open-air session in the village of Bieńczyce near Kraków, he met his future wife, Salomea Wiktoria Turbas (1882–1957), daughter of a wealthy peasant family. The wedding took place in 1902 in the Kraków Church of St Nicolas, the wedding reception in the bride's cottage in Bieńczyce, and gathered the artistic milieu of the city led by Leon Wyczółkowski. Until 1914 the couple lived in a peasant cottage. They had four sons. Krasnowolski joined well-known artistic organisations in Kraków, Warsaw, and Vienna, and his works were included in an album of Polish art published in Paris in 1912. He also published a series of post-cards in order to provide additional income. Krasnowolski's paintings are dominated by peaceful landscapes with blue-and-rusty striped cottages, portraits of young girls in regional costumes (most often it was his wife who did the modelling), and children - especially his own sons. Beginning in 1903 he regularly participated in exhibitions by Kraków's Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Sztuk Pięknych and Warsaw's Zacheta, Poznań, Lviv, and abroad: in Prague, Vienna, Munich, Budapest, Kiev, and Dresden. Highly recognized by the critics and magazines (Tygodnik Ilustrowany, Świat, Sfinks, and Życie i Sztuka), he was most praised for the choice of subject and mood. Especially famous are his Peasant Madonnas in a highly Polish style. His most valued works originated during and after the artist's stay in Paris (1909). This was his time of greatest recognition; he participated in exhibitions with the leading artists of the Młoda Polska (Young Poland) movement, and in 1911 was awarded the highest prize at the 1st Exhibition of Sacred Art in Kraków for his "Heart of Jesus" , and a few days later - for the "Four Bathing Boys" (portrait of his sons) in Vienna.