Background
Kaniewski was born in Krasiłów in Podolia.
Kaniewski was born in Krasiłów in Podolia.
He was educated in the Liceum Krzemienieckie in Krzemieniec, where he received his first lessons in drawing and painting from Józef Pitschmann. Between 1827 and 1833 he studied in the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint St. Petersburg.
He was particularly known for his portraits and his depictions of historical and Biblical scenes. After graduating with the title "free artist" (Polish: wolny artysta), he traveled to Rome thanks to a government grant, arriving in November 1833, via Dresden, Vienna, Bologna and Florence. While in Rome he also painted Gaetano Moroni.
In the years 1842–1846 he was back in Saint St. Petersburg, where in 1845, for his work Portrait of Field-Marshal Iwan Paskiewicz he received the title of Academician.
In 1846 he moved to Warsaw, where after the death of Aleksander Kokular he occupied the chair of drawing and figure painting in the School of Fine Arts, of which from 1858 to 1864 he was director, with the patronage of Tsar Alexander World War II In 1860 he became one of the organisers of the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts (Towarzystwo Zachęty Sztuk Pięknych), with which he remained associated until the end of his life. After the School of Fine Arts was forcibly closed in 1864 as a result of general political repression, Kaniewski continued to lead a drawing class.
His work included many portraits of members of the Russian Imperial family, including Tsar Alexander II, and dignitaries of Congress Poland.
