Franciszek Żmurko
WOMAN WITH A RED EARRING, c. 1905
Oil, canvas
78 cm x 114 cm
Private collection
A woman with a red earring is one of Żmurka's characteristic paintings, depicting "sensual" beauties, low-cut and showing off their charms
Franciszek Żmurko
Hetera/ Courtesan, c. 1906
Oil on canvas
90 x 99. cm
Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in Warsaw
Lost between 1939-1945 (World War II)
Franciszek Żmurko (1859–1910)
The Sinner's past - Seven Deadly Sins, c. 1895
On canvas
Height: 275 cm (108.2 in); Width: 335 cm (10.9 ft)
National Museum in Warsaw
In the gloomy scenery of coastal rocks, a lonely old man leaning against a withered tree - a sinner remembers his past, tossing aside a broken lyre. Seven naked women are revealed to him, probably symbolizing the Seven Deadly Sins. They are accompanied by a man personifying Chronos with a scythe and an hourglass - symbols of passing and death.
The painting is a melodramatic morality play, but at the same time it is kept in an atmosphere of uninhibited, provocative sensuality. The critics of the time accused the artist of excessive realism and corporeality of allegorical and visionary figures of women. More on this painting
Franciszek Żmurko (1859–1910)
Morning star, c. 1898
Oil on canvas
Height: 280 cm (110.2 in); Width: 503 cm (16.5 ft)
National Museum in Warsaw
A participant of many exhibitions awarded with medals (including the gold medal for the painting Cleopatra ; 1879), he was recognized by critics and was popular with the public. Most of all, he painted, in the academic convention, compositions on ancient, historical, oriental or symbolic themes, in which the anecdotal layer created an opportunity to present female nudes.
Franciszek Żmurko (1859–1910)
Susanna and the Elders, c. 1879
Oil on canvas
92 × 100 cm (36.2 × 39.3 in)
National Museum in Warsaw
A fair wife named Susanna was falsely accused by lecherous voyeurs. As she bathes in her garden, having sent her attendants away, two lustful elders secretly observe the lovely Susanna. When she makes her way back to her house, they accost her, threatening to claim that she was meeting a young man in the garden unless she agrees to have sex with them.
She refuses to be blackmailed and is arrested and about to be put to death for promiscuity when a young man named Daniel interrupts the proceedings, shouting that the elders should be questioned to prevent the death of an innocent. After being separated, the two men are questioned about details of what they saw, but disagree about the tree under which Susanna supposedly met her lover. In the Greek text, the names of the trees cited by the elders form puns with the sentence given by Daniel. The first says they were under a mastic, and Daniel says that an angel stands ready to cuthim in two. The second says they were under an evergreen oak tree, and Daniel says that an angel stands ready to saw him in two. The great difference in size between a mastic and an oak makes the elders' lie plain to all the observers. The false accusers are put to death, and virtue triumphs. More about Susanna
Franciszek Żmurko
The Feudal Law, c. 1892
Oil, canvas
160 cm x 197.5 cm
Private collection
The painting refers to the old, semi-legendary custom according to which a feudal lord could spend the first night with his subject's newly wedded wife.
The painting - with its content and anecdote, the atmosphere of sensuality combined with expectation and fear, decorativeness of the composition, rich scenery, perfectly guided light that brings out the delicacy and softness of the young woman's body, as well as tasteful, harmonious colors. More on this painting
Franciszek Żmurko (1859–1910)
Sigismund Augustus and Barbara, c. 1870s
Oil on canvas
Height: 14 cm (5.5 in); Width: 24 cm (9.4 in)
National Museum in Wrocław
Sigismund II Augustus (1 August 1520 – 7 July 1572) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. He was the first ruler of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the last male monarch from the Jagiellonian dynasty.
Sigismund Augustus married three times; his first wife, Elizabeth of Austria, died in 1545 at just eighteen. He was then involved in several relationships with mistresses, the most famous being Barbara Radziwiłł, who became Sigismund's second wife and Queen of Poland in spite of his mother's disapproval. The marriage was deemed scandalous and was fiercely opposed by the royal court and the nobility. Barbara died five months after her coronation, presumably due to ill health, however, rumours circulated that she was poisoned. Sigismund finally wedded Catherine of Austria, but remained childless throughout his life. More on Sigismund Augustus and Barbara
Franciszek Żmurko (1859–1910)
Faust's Vision, c. 1890
Oil on canvas
Private collection
The painting likely depicts a moment from the German legend of Dr. Faust, who made a pact with the Devil to indulge in many worldly pleasures, including the seduction of a young German girl named Gretchen.
Franciszek Żmurko (1859–1910)
At Padishah's order, c. 1881
Oil on canvas
Height: 133.5 cm (52.5 in); Width: 240 cm (94.4 in)
National Museum in Warsaw
In this piece, Żmurko presents an exotic image of a harem chamber, replete with gleaming fabrics and scattered jewels, as a setting for the statuesquely beautiful body of an odalisque murdered “at the order of the padishah”. The carefully arranged pose of the woman ensures compliance with the aesthetic canon of academism, discreetly eliding the drastic physiological details of death by strangulation. The fact that we are beholding a lifeless –but still beautiful – body is indicated only by the red cord visible at the odalisque’s neck. The dramatic import of this violent death in the oppressive, darkly sensuous atmosphere of the harem is amplified by the device of closing in the visual space with the heavy draperies surrounding the bed, the dishevelled sheets, the scattered furnishings and costly baubles, and the deep contrasts of darkness and light modelling the woman’s body, with its delicate carnation and fine contours. More on this painting
The painting was shown in December 1892 at an exhibition at the Krywult Salon in Warsaw. Almost immediately after this exhibition, Żmurko sent the painting to the Colombian World Exhibition in Chicago, open from May 1 to October 3, 1893. The painting entitled The Feudal Law (See above) was shown under the banner of "Society of Polish Artists" as one of six paintings by Żmurka (the others mentioned in the exhibition catalog are: A Lady in Fur, Childern's Heads, Pieta, Evening Song and Under the Influence of Hasheesh (See below)).
Franciszek Zmurko (Polish, 1859–1910)
Under the Influence of Hasheesh, c. 1887
Oil on lined canvas
140 x 280 cm. (55.1 x 110.2 in.)
Private collection
When in 1882 Żmurko was forced to flee from Krakow to Warsaw due to "failure to fulfill military formalities", the capital's bohemia welcomed him with open arms. After a series of sumptuous receptions, high-profile openings, prestigious visits and a return visit, Żmurko was accepted into the society through a wedding with actress Aleksandra Lüdowa. The audience went wild with joy, especially since the bride is a beauty gushing with sex appeal, and her chosen one - "the painter of charms and charms of the fair sex par excellence".
Franciszek Żmurko
DUMA/ PRIDE, c. 1894-1895
Canvas stuck to cardboard
44.5 cm x 59 cm
Private collection
Franciszek Żmurko (1859–1910)
Black Tresses, c. 1907
Oil on canvas
Height: 85.5 cm (33.6 in) ; Width: 60 cm (23.6 in)
National Museum in Kraków
Franciszek Żmurko (1859–1910)
In rapture
Oil on canvas
Height: 124.5 cm (49 in); Width: 160.5 cm (63.1 in)
National Museum in Warsaw
Franciszek Żmurko (1859–1910)
Cleopatra's Dream
Oil on canvas
9 x 14 cm
Private collection
Franciszek Żmurko
In delightful dream
Oil on canvas
63 cm x 99 cm
Private collection
Painted with the ease and lightness of a sketch, half-act of a sleeping girl, by family tradition of the owners, entitled "In a delightful dream" is perhaps identical to the painting with the same title exhibited in 1906 at the Zachęta Gallery in Warsaw
In 1877 Żmurko moved to Vienna, Austria where he was accepted at the Vienna Academy, but left soon thereafter to study under Alexander von Wagner in Munich. Żmurko returned to Kraków in 1880 and then moved to Warsaw in 1882 where he remained until his death in 1910. More on Franciszek Żmurko
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