Jan Chełmiński

born 1851 - 1925, country: Poland

Jan Chełmiński (Brzustów near Opoczno 1851 - New York 1925) a popular painter from the circle of "Polish Munich artists", he began his education with Juliusz Kossak, and then studied at the Warsaw Drawing Class and in Munich - at the Academy with Alexander Strähuber and Alexander Wagner (1873-1875) and the private studios of Józef Brandt (1875) and the battle painter Franz Adam (1876). After his studies he lived permanently abroad - in Munich, London (1882, 1888-1899), Paris (1899), he traveled to St. Petersburg (1889) and New York (1884), where later, around 1915, he settled permanently. However, he did not break off contacts with Poland, and often sent his works to Warsaw exhibitions. His paintings enjoyed great success. He painted primarily military and battle scenes, most willingly from the times of the Duchy of Warsaw and the Napoleonic Wars, as well as genre paintings and hunting episodes. He was involved in book illustrations; among other things, he illustrated a volume of hunting stories by Theodore Roosevelt. He was a collector of old weapons and an outstanding expert in soldier uniforms. Many of the artist's paintings are still found abroad - in England, Germany or the United States. A few of them appear in antique shops, constantly arousing a keen interest among collectors.