Józef Krasnowolski

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Józef Krasnowolski (15th November 1879 - 29th November 1939), second son of Antoni Krasnowolski, teacher, philologist and translator, and Augusta von Thumen (d. in 1935), born in Marienwerder ( Kwidzyn ), Province of West Prussia.

An independent artistic spirit and painter. Having studied first in Warsaw with Wojciech Gerson (from 1896), Józef moved to Kraków in 1898 where he studied at Szkoła Sztuk Pięknych with Jacek Malczewski (to 1900) and with Leon Wyczółkowski (1900/1901). Józef completed his education in Munich (Germany) in the years 1901-1902. The preserved certificates of education prove Józef to be an excellent student, awarded numerous prizes for his works.

During an open-air session in the village of Bieńczyce near Kraków, he met his future wife, Salomea Wiktoria Turbas (1882–1957), a daughter of wealthy peasant family (Grzegorz and Salomea nee Biernacik). The family tradition makes the Turbasa family descendants of captive Tatar cavalry. The wedding took place on 5th November 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 young Krasnowolskis lived in a peasant cottage and had four sons: Franciszek (16th April 1903 – 19th April 1944 a talented artist who prematurely died of tuberculosis, Kazimierz Krasnowolski (teacher and biologist), Witold - the family's advcenturer who emigrated to Brazil were for a time he presided the Union of Poles (Związek Polaków), tried his hand in coffee planting and opening bus lines, and raised nine children (own and adopted) and Włodzimierz (29th December 1912 – 20th December 1981; a soldier of the Home Army (AK) in the Second World War, he was made to hide under Stalinist terrorism.

The works of Józef Krasnowolski 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, as she could not stand others doing the job), and children - especially his own sons. Since 1903 he regularly participated in exhibitions by Kraków's Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Sztuk Pięknych and Warsaw's Zacheta, Poznań, Lvov (Lviv), and abroad: in Prague, Vienna, Munich, Budapest, Kiev, and Dresden. Highly recognised by the critics and magazines (Tygodnik Ilustrowany, Świat, Sfinks, and Życie i Sztuka). He is especially praised for the choice of subject and mood; especially famous are his Peasant Madonnas in a highly Polish style. His most precious works originated during and after the artist's stay in Paris (1909). This is the time of greatest recognition: Józef participates in exhibitions with the leading artists of the Młoda Polska (Young Poland) movement, and in 1911 is awarded the highest prize at the 1st Exhibition of Sacred Art in Kraków for his "Heart of Jesus" (today in the altar of the Church in Krzesławice), a few days later - for the "Four Bathing Boys" (portrait of his sons) in Vienna.

Although at the time Józef is a member of well-known artistic organisations in Kraków, Warsaw, and Vienna, and his works make their way to the album of Polish art published in Paris in 1912, he publishes series of post-cards to improve his material situation. It is especially far from ideal when the First World War deteriorates the demand for works of art. Forced to teach drawing in secondary school and work for Polish Telegraphic Agency, he is troubled by poor health. Despite glaucoma and partial paralysis of fingers (1926), he continues to paint and receive awards - the last one in 1934 for "Cottage in the Sun".

Became embittered in his last years when he lived from the support of his second son, Kazimierz, at that time a young teacher. Downcast by the outbreak of the Second World War, he dies on 29th November 1939 and is buried at the Rakowice Cemetery.