Axel Feuß:
Józef Brandt – Ein polnischer Malerfürst in München
Bolesław Szańkowski (1871/73-1953): Porträt Józef Brandt, 1910.
Öl auf Leinwand, 162 x 112 cm, Nationalmuseum Warschau/
Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie, Inv. Nr. MP 961
After studying painting in Munich from 1860 onwards, Józef Brandt (1841-1915), who called himself Josef von Brandt on account of his Polish aristocratic title, celebrated brilliant successes with large battle paintings recaling the 17th century Polish wars against the Tatars, the Turks and the Swedes. Smaller paintings on the same theme as well as genre pictures from Polish folk life proved highly popular amongst collectors in Germany, England and the USA. With the opening of his Munich studio in 1875, when he publicly exhibited a collection of Polish antiquities used as models for his paintings, he became the leading figure in the Polish artists' colony in Munich. His close connection to the Bavarian royal family and his great successes at international exhibitions earned him titles, decorations and medals in the 1880s/90s. In Poland he is still remembered for his school of painting on his estate at Orońsko, which he had acquired by marriage, and for his national-polish motifs. further reading: http://porta-polonica.de/en/Atlas-of-remembrance-places/jozef-brandt