Johann George Pinsel
Encounter the self-taught sculptor whose legacy continues to inspire artists around the world
Johann Georg Pinsel by National Museum – Palace of the Grand Dukes of LithuaniaCFC Big Ideas in association with the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy
Pinsel is known as the most mysterious European artist of the 18th century. Galician Michelangelo, as he was often called, had world-class skills in sculpture. However, it is still a mystery as to where he learned these skills.
There is no information about the date and place of Pinsel's birth. Little is known about his private life. He was discovered by Polish scholar Jan Boloz Antoniewicz and appeared in scholarly literature in 1923. Pinsel was born between 1715 and 1725 and died in 1761 or early 1762. According to Jan K. Ostrowski, Pinsel was almost certainly of German ethnic origin. He came to Lviv around 1750 and became a court artist to Polish nobleman Mikolai Potocki.
Johann Georg Pinsel by Title: Putto Creator: Johann Georg Pinsel Date created: 1752/1755 Location: Horodenka, Ukraine [at the time: Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth] Physical Dimensions: height: 41 cm Rights: © photo Piotr Ługowski, © Narodowy Instytut Polskiego Dziedzictwa Narodowego za Granicą POLONIKA External Link: Johann Georg Pinsel Museum in Lviv Medium: sculpture in limewoodCFC Big Ideas in association with the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy
The collaboration between Polish tycoon Potocki, architect Bernard Meretyn, and Johann Pinsel was significant for Ukrainian culture. This trio predetermined the emergence of an important artistic center of the 18th century, the Lviv School of Baroque Sculpture.
Pinsel’s works include sculptures and decorations of the Buchach Town Hall (1750s), the Trinitarian Church (1756–1757), St. George’s Cathedral in Lviv (1759–1761), the interiors of the Roman Catholic churches in Monastyrska (1761), Horodenka (1752–1755), and Hodovytsia (1757–1758), and sculptures in the Roman Catholic parish church in Budaniv. Almost all of his sculptural complexes have been damaged or destroyed.
Johann Georg Pinsel by Title: The Sacrifice of Issac, Abraham Creator: Johann Georg Pinsel Date created: 1759/1760 Location created: Hodowica, Ukraine (at the time: Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) Physical Dimensions: height: 149 cm Rights: © photo Piotr Ługowski, © Narodowy Instytut Polskiego Dziedzictwa Narodowego za Granicą POLONIKA External Link: Johann Georg Pinsel Muzeum, Lviv Medium: sculpture in limewoodCFC Big Ideas in association with the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy
In Lviv, he worked on the decoration of St. George’s Cathedral and created the stone sculpture on the façade. While working at the Trinigariv Monastery (Holy Trinity Church), he laid the foundations of sculpting with the distinctive features of the Rococo style.
Only after almost a century and a half, Pinsel's artistic achievements became a subject of well-deserved attention.
Based on text by Borys Filonenko
Original text from the album of the Prominent Ukrainians project, published jointly by Pictoric Illustrators Club, Pavlo Gudimov Ya Gallery Art Center, Artbook Publishing House and Ukraine Crisis Media Center.
Photo:
© photo Piotr Ługowski, © Narodowy Instytut Polskiego Dziedzictwa Narodowego za Granicą POLONIKA
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