Bright in the Dark

Michał Deszert (1730–1792) was a Polish-Lithuanian nobleman of French descent, and the Grand Pantler of Navahrudak. Having married the daughter of the Grand Pantler of Smolensk and the Deputy Pantler of Zhytomyr, he farmed her dowry estate at Szumlanszczyzna (now in Ukraine), and managed the neighbouring lands of the Poniatowski family.

This portrait of Michał Deszert was painted during a period of growth of the national spirit, in the wake of the Constitution of 3 May 1791, and shortly before the uprising of 1794. It is a typical likeness of a late 18th-century local nobleman, whose position is shown by his dress, his coat of arms, and an inscription (possibly added later). The Enlightenment spirit is reflected in the artist’s attempt to give the person a natural posture, by officialdom giving way to simplicity.

According to the labels on the back of the painting, here we see Aleksandra Voyeykova (1795–1829), the wife of the Russian poet, translator, critic, publisher and journalist Aleksandr Voyeykov (1779–1839). She is depicted leaning gracefully on a table, wearing an elegant and dark but modest dress, and the serious expression on her rather sad face shows no sign of levity. Her distant look seems to reflect her thoughts, deep in the world of poetry and the imagination.

Portrait of a woman by Józef Peszka (1767-1831) is more chamber-like and without decorative character. However, the portait could be characterized by its realistic features.

Here a girl with an open glance is directly looking at us. One may feel a slight mood of sadness and modesty spreading our from the elegant portret.

This portrait shows a girl of a noble descent. She is wearing a fashionable, expensive but rather modest white dress with no adornments. Such woman’s outfit and hairstyle accurately reflects the 19th century. The type of the dress shown in the portrait (straight-cut at the waist with a wide yet flat neckline that visually enhances the shoulders, and puffed sleeves) became popular in first half of that century.

The hairstyle of the girl portrayed also belongs to a rather specific period – that of around 1830: the hair is done up in a braid-wrapped high bun with tightly spun, not-quite-shoulder-length locks framing the face.

Portrait of Jeronimas Stroinovskis, Bishop of Vilnius (1752-1815) is based on a subtle blend of black and red.

A slight smile plays across his face, however he is looking sideways from the viewer. Therefore, a dreamy and sad state made be perceived.

The portraits of Count Czapski’s family were painted in 1835 in Vilnius by Andreas Hintz (or Hintze), an artist of Prussian descent. Here you see a portrait of Count Karol Janusz Czapski, the head of the family, who died in 1836.

Portrait of Countess Maria Czapska.

Pastel portraits were very fashionable in the 18th century, during the time of the Enlightenment and the Rococo style. The popularity of pastel is associated with French art. This popular technique spread in the mid-18th century from the centre of Europe to the peripheries, where it competed with oil painting, and was exceedingly popular until photography emerged in the middle of the 19th century.

The portrait of Countess Fabiana Czapska reflects rough surfaces and soft textures that are very suitable for drawing idealised images of people, reflecting objects and the forms of nature faithfully.

This portrait of a man shows Tadeusz Łukaszewicz great skill. It is hard to say whether the sitter was one of his patrons, or whether it was commissioned. It is an intimate image, typical of the style of portrait painting in which most attention is paid to the individuality of the sitter instead of showing his social position.

The man depicted was obviously educated and well-off: his clothes are elegant and his posture is relaxed, but he gazes out at the viewer with a concentrated and attentive look.

The portrait, conditionally titled Humbleness after the image of the woman shown in it, portrays a young woman dressed in the black attire of mourning, with a prayer-book in one hand. The plain cross adorning her chest highlights the theme of devotion to the will of the Lord and of faith further still. Quite possibly, this image was a part of a much larger composition that was cropped later (there are two figures of elderly men that can be glimpsed in the shadows on both sides of the woman).

The Portrait of a woman, which was painted in Paris, is a valuable example of Napoleonas Ylakavičius’ mature period and reflects his typical manner of painting. The portrait shows an unknown woman, who was probably someone close to the artist, and displays a typical mid 19th century mixture of academic and realistic manner as well as traces of the Biedermeier style, which can be seen in the informal mood and the depiction of a simple, cosy home environment.

Edward Bonifacy Pawłowicz (1825–1909) modelled the sitter, the details of his suit and the back of the red chair meticulously and with superb technique, while the face is rendered with almost photographic precision.

In this portrait sitting in an armchair and leaning on a cane with both hands, the sitter seems to express concentration and attention, which is directed at someone in front of him and invisible to us. There is nothing official or showy about the portrait, as would be typical of society portraits. It has a warm and domestic tone, and in its intimacy it recalls Biedermeier aesthetics.

Portrait of Mme. Leńska by the painter Karol Rypiński (1809–1892) reveals her dignity and calm. Madam looks respectable but in some dreamy and sad state. A slight tender intimacy may be perceived from her pose. The artist rendered realistically and thoroughly her composed face, arranged black hair and gorgeous garments.

This image of a girl by Michał Elwiro Andriolli is remarkable not just for the clearly pictured personal features, but also for qualities that are typical of the romantic representation of the ideal of the child.

Dressed-up peasant woman by Wincenty Leopold Sleńdziński (1837–1909), the son of the painter Aleksander Sleńdziński conveys elegance and unfathomable femininity. The portret reflects a warm and domestic tone with some colorful patterns from provincial life.

The self-portrait of Konstanty Górski (1868–1934) from 1896 shows a man dressed in a fashionable light suit, elegant, refined and cultivated. There is no coat of arms or other details pointing to his social status, but it is clear from the subject’s posture.

The format of the painting and the composition, with the figure cut off at the knees, are characteristics of society portraits, but the relaxed pose, with one hand in a pocket, avoids an official impression, and gives it a certain familiarity and nonchalance. The subject is looking sideways, preserving a distance between the painter and the viewer, and emphasising the unfathomable mood of the artist.

Depicted in the portrait is Stanislaw Szumski, an officer of the Napoleon Army, member of the Chief Uprising Committee during the 1831 Uprising in Lithuania, and chief of the Szlachta of the Vilnius district. The portrait created by Henryk Aloizy Dmochowski (1810-1863) with reflections of romanticism and claccism.