20 Works, Today, April 8th is artist Jan Styka's day, his story, illustrated with footnotes #97

Jan Styka  (1858–1925)

Death of Władysław Szujski in the Battle of Sillery, c. before 1925

Oil on canvas

National Museum, Lublin 

Władysław Szujski (born September 25, 1865 in Krakow , died November 29, 1914 in the trenches at Sillery ) was a lawyer, entrepreneur, senior ranks. Foreign Legion , the first ensign of the Bayonians,  the infantry unit of the Foreign Legion composed of Polish volunteers.

After the outbreak of World War I, at the request of the Committee of Polish Volunteers, he appeared on August 3, 1914 as a volunteer to fight in the Polish Legion. As he was already 49 at the time on the medical commission, he lowered his age to 40.

In the fall of 1914, in the trenches at Sillery, Szujski was one of the initiators of establishing contact and persuading Poles serving in the German unit to move to the French side. To this end, a small (24 men) detachment of Bayonians, including Szujski with a banner, under the command of Malcz, went to the front line. In the evening, voice contact was established with the Poles, and the next day, at their request, the banner was presented to them. Unfortunately, at night the German command replaced the previous unit with a purely German one. The Germans shot at a banner stuck in the trench embankment. Szujski tried to pull the shaft out of the ground, leaned too far and was shot in the face with a bullet. More on Władysław Szujski

Jan Styka (April 8, 1858 in Lemberg – April 11, 1925 in Rome) was a Polish painter noted for producing large historical, battle-scenes, and Christian religious panoramas. He was also an illustrator and poet. Known as a great patriotic speaker - his speeches were printed in 1915 under the French title L'ame de la Pologne (The Soul of Poland).

Jan Styka

FRIENDS , c. 1903

oil, canvas

98 cm x 131.4 cm 

Private collection

The son of a Czech officer in Austria-Hungary, Styka attended school in his native Lemberg,  then studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, Austria. He graduated from the Academy with a Golden Medal for the painting entitled "Ulysses Hunting a Boar".  

Jan Styka (1858 Lviv - 1925 Rome) 

Odysseus on the bed of divine Circe, c. 1901

I have no further description, at this time

JAN STYKA, (LVIV, 1858 - ROME, 1925)

ULYSSES ESCAPING FROM CHARYBDIS (SERIES ON HOMER’S ODYSSEY)

76.5 x 57.5 cm. (30 1/8 x 22 5/8 in.)

Oil on cardboard

I have no further description, at this time

Charybdis was a sea monster in Greek mythology, which dwelt in the Strait of Messina. It was later rationalised as a whirlpool.

His next paintings Under the Cross on the Way to Exile in Siberia and Death at the Battlefield were dedicated to the tragic history of Poland and painted in realistic style. Religious themes, so frequent in his later works, found their first expression in a painting Farewell to Mother of God.

One of the first portraits by Styka was A Portrait of Artist’s Sister and two portraits of his fiancé Maria, whom he visited during vacations in Sambor. In 1880, Styka was drafted to the Austrian Army but the next year, thanks to a scholarship, he could continue his studies.

Jan Styka

Calypso

Oil on canvas

64.8 x 54cm (25 1/2 x 21 1/4in). 

Private collection

In Greek mythology, Calypso (she who conceals) was a nymph who lived on the island of Ogygia, where, according to Homer's Odyssey, she detained Odysseus for seven years.

Jan Styka (1858 Lviv - 1925 Rome)

Calypso promises immortality to Odysseus

I have no further description, at this time

He took up residence in Kraków in 1882 where he studied historical painting under Jan Matejko. Next he came back to Lwów and opened a workshop. Together with a celebrated Polish historical painter Wojciech Kossak, they created his most famous work in Poland – The Racławice Panorama. 

After being awarded the "Prix de Rome" he moved to Italy for a year, where he painted various pictures and admired works of famous Italian Masters. There, inspired by a poem by Polish bard Juliusz Słowacki, Styka painted Lilla Veneda.

Jan Styka

Polonia, c. 1891

 National Museum in Wrocław

Poland chained to a rock in chains.

Before her, a funeral banner with the dates of the partitions of Poland.

Tadeusz Koścuszko holds the Banner of Poland.

Sabers in hands; Gen. Jan Henryk Dąbrowski, Józef Poniatowski, Gen. Kazimierz Pułaski.

In the carriage, the market square is drunk with King Stanisław August Poniatowski.

"In the painting we find the tragedy of Poland's fall, the martyrdom of the nation, its struggle for freedom ideals, the patriotic attitude of leaders and historical heroes," says Beata Stragierowicz

Jan Styka

Detail; Polonia, c. 1891

 National Museum in Wrocław

 A woman dressed in a white robe is chained to a rock under a plaque with the words "Constitution of May 3". At her feet lies the murdered Nation, and under the rock - the victims of the struggle for independence. The woman looks at a black pennant with a skull and the dates of the three partitions. More on this painting

After receiving a scholarship and invitation from Jan Matejko, Styka left Rome and headed to Cracow. His new work Regina Poloniae was highly praised by critics and the public as well. When his fiancé’s mother died, Styka decided to marry Maria but seven months after the wedding Maria passed away. Styka tried to find escape from the tragic situation by painting religious scenes, as Christ Teaching, Christ over Jerusalem, or Madonna in White (See below).

In 1986, Styka’s Regina Poloniae was sent to an exhibition in the Parisian Salon and Styka decided to move to Paris, too. There, he started painting in plain-air. He married his student Lucyna Olgiati, who became his inspiration for the painting Venetian Woman. The most famous Styka painting of that period was Meeting on Via Appia showing the meeting of two worlds: Roman nobles returning from revelry and a Christian funeral.

Jan Styka, (1858 Lviv - 1925 Rome)

Sketch for the Transylvanian Panorama, c. 1897-1902

Panorama of Transylvania - Bem in the Battle of Sibiu, March 11, 1849

Tarnów Museum

The Transylvanian Panorama (Polish: Panorama Siedmiogrodzka) other names Bem and Petőfi, Bem in Transylvania, Battle of Segesvár / Schässburg - village of Fehéregyháza, meaning White Church was a monumental (15 × 100 metre) panoramic painting depicting the Battle of Nagyszeben, during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848-49. More on this painting

Jan Styka (1858 Lviv - 1925 Rome) 

Sketch for Panorama of Siedmiogrod, 1897, 1902

Oil on canvas

64 x 153 cm. 

Private collection

Jan Styka (1858 Lviv - 1925 Rome)

On the Way to Golgote , c. 1886-1914

Oil on canvas

80 x 130 cm. 

Private collection

Jan Styka  (1858–1925)

Golgota, c. 1896

Oil on canvas

Height: 15 m (16.4 yd); Width: 60 m (65.6 yd)

 National Museum in Szczecin

Jan Styka (1858 Lviv - 1925 Rome)

Saint Peter preaching the Gospel in the Catacombs

Oil on canvas

I have no further description, at this time

Jan Styka  (1858–1925)

Madonna, c. 1906

Oil on paperboard

Height: 73 cm (28.7 in); Width: 60 cm (23.6 in)

Private collection

Jan Styka  (1858–1925)

Old Testament Scene

Oil on Board

20.5 x 17.5 in 

Private collection

Among Styka's important works is the large scene of Saint Peter preaching the Gospel in the Catacombs, painted in Paris in 1902. His renowned panoramas include Bem in Siedmiogrod (1897) (See above),  "The Crucifixion", (also known as "Golghota") (See above), reputed to be the world's largest and most dramatic painting on canvas. The Martydrom of Christians in Nero's Circus (1897) (See below), and the Wrocław Branch of the National Museum of Poland houses the monumental collaboration The Battle of Racławice, painted in 1894 (See below). Jan Styka also painted portraits of well known personalities of his time.

Jan Styka  (1858–1925)

Panorama of the Battle of Raclawice 1794, c. 1894

Oil on canvas

114x15m

National Museum of Poland

Jan Styka  (1858–1925)

The Martydrom of Christians in Nero's Circus, c. 1897

Oil on canvas

I have no further description, at this time

Jan Styka  (1858–1925)

Néron à Baïes Nero at Baiae, circa 1900

Oil on canvas

Private collection

Jan Styka  (1858–1925)

Martyrdom of the first Christians

Oil on canvas

40 x 33 cm 

Private collection

Jan Styka (1858 Lviv - 1925 Rome) 

Portrait of Maryla Młodnicka-Wolska

Oil on canvas

I have no further description, at this time

Maryla Wolska (born March 13, 1873 in Lviv , died June 25, 1930 in Lviv ) - Polish poet of the Young Poland period . She wrote under the pseudonym Iwo Płomieńczyk

Jan Styka (1858 Lviv - 1925 Rome) 

Portrait of Zofia, the artist's daughter, in Polycaste , 1916

Oil on panel

70.5x53cm 

Private collection

Jan Styka (French, 1858--1925)

Napoleon w otoczeniu sztabu (sketch), c. 1900

Oil on canvas

100 x 70 cm (39.4 x 27.6 in)

Private collection

After the success of Golgotha (also known as The Crucifixion), Styka was encouraged by a French publisher to work on drawings for the historic novel Quo Vadis, by Henryk Sienkiewicz. The result was over 150 amazing drawings, followed by 15 oil paintings!

Styka died in 1925 and was buried in Rome. However, in 1959 Hubert Eaton arranged with Styka's family for his remains to be brought to the United States for interment in the "Hall of The Immortals" at Forest Lawn cemetery.

Sons Tadeusz "Tade" Styka [pl] (1889–1954) and Adam Styka (1890–1959) were both painters. More on Jan Styka

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