Józef Marian Chełmoński

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Self portrait, Józef Chełmoński

Józef Marian Chełmoński (November 7, 1849 – April 6, 1914) was a Polish painter.

Chełmoński was born in the village of Boczki near Lowicz in central Congress Poland, Russian Empire. His first drawing teacher drawing was his father (a small leaseholder and administrator of Boczki village). After finishing high school in Warsaw, he studied in Warsaw Drawing Class (1867–1871) and took private lessons from Wojciech Gerson. From 1871 to 1874 Chełmoński lived in Munich. He worked with Polish painters assembled around Jozef Brandt and Maksymilian Gierymski. He also had studied for a few months at the academy of H. Anschutz and A. Strahuber. In 1872 and 1874 Chełmoński visited the Polish territories (Poland as a country did not exist then), Tatra Mountains and Ukraine.

His first paintings were done under the influence of Gerson. The works that followed were landscapes and villages. In 1875 Chełmoński went to Paris, where he had many important exhibitions and became known to the art scene. With many orders, the artistic level of his paintings decreased.

From 1878 to 1887 Chełmoński visited Poland, Vienna and Venice. In 1887 he returned to Poland and in 1889 settled in Kuklowka village. Contact with his homeland and nature revealed quality in his artworks. From that time are the best liked Chełmoński's paintings such as Partridge on the Snow, The Storks or Before Thunderstorm.

Chełmoński represented the trend in art called "Polish Patriotic Painting".

He died in Kuklowka near Grodzisk Mazowiecki in 1914.