Exhibition of one painting "Pantaleon Schindler. Portrait of an Unknown. 1885"

On October 6, the Kaluga Museum of Fine Arts (104 Lenina st., Main exposition) will open an exhibition of one painting “Pantaleon Schindler. Portrait of an Unknown Woman. 1885 ". To the 175th anniversary of the artist’s birth.

Pantaleon Jozef Schindler (1846 - 1905) - Polish artist, representative of the academic direction in painting.

Academism is a trend in the visual arts that has developed in art educational institutions - academies. It implies following the external forms of classical art, idealizing images and focusing on the art of the past. In the middle of the 19th century, a different direction develops - realism, in which masters strive to reflect accurately and objectively the reality surrounding them. In the second half of the 19th century, two trends - academism and realism exist simultaneously.

Nowadays, the name of Pantaleon Schindler is not often remembered when talking about European art of the second half of the 19th century. However, during his lifetime, Schindler was quite famous. It was appreciated by the audience, including artists and art critics.

Quite a few biographical data about the master have survived. He received his art education in Warsaw, under the guidance of the master Rafal Hadzevich. He was a fellow of the organization of Polish artists "Association for the Protection of Works of Art", founded by the painter Wojciech Gerson, thanks to which he was able to continue his studies abroad. In the first half of the 1870s, he studied painting at the Munich Academy, the Roman Academy of St. Luke and the Paris School of Fine Arts. In Paris in 1874, he met the renowned artist Ilya Efimovich Repin, who created his portrait in 1875 using the etching technique. At the bottom of this sheet is the signature of Vasily Polenov: “Repin made a portrait of Schindler - from life. A very talented Polish artist, our mutual friend. "He also closely communicated with the French artist Jules Bastien-Lepage and the Polish poet Cyprian Kamil Norwid, whose work he turned to in his painting. After studying, he returned to his homeland, lived first in Warsaw, and then in Czestochowa, where he worked in the monastery of Jasna Gora and founded his own school of painting. In 1895 he made a trip to Podolia and Crimea. In 1902 he returned to Warsaw, where he died three years later.

Schindler’s works can be attributed to a large number of themes and genres. He became famous for his work in the genre of nudity, as well as plot paintings belonging to the direction of Orientalism in painting, in which European artists reflected life in the countries of the Near and Middle East. One of the most famous works of the master is the canvas "Eve", which was awarded a prize in 1889 at an international exhibition in Paris. It caused an ambiguous reaction from critics, as some of them noted the "boudoir" interpretation of the image of the foremother of humanity. Schindler, in addition, created works on religious and literary subjects, as well as painted landscapes and portraits. "Portrait of an Unknown Woman", dated 1885, from the collection of the Kaluga Museum of Fine Arts belongs to the brush of this painter.

This work is close in its artistic solution to other portrait works of Schindler. The portrait shows an elderly lady, apparently belonging to a high society, in a three-quarter spread. All attention is focused on the transfer of her facial features, which can be seen both in the compositional structure and in the light and color. A face painted with light colors stands out sharply against a dark background. Her gray hair, adorned with a shawl, is parted in the middle. The master scrupulously conveys the features of her individual appearance, without any idealization. Schindler is extremely accurate in depicting nature. Not only the appearance, but also the complex shades of mood visible in the facial expression are authentically conveyed by the master. The woman is dressed in a brown dress, in her ears - heavy earrings with precious stones, and on her neck - strands of pearls. Her appearance is at the same time strictmodest and elegant.