Background
Mehoffer was born in Ropczyce, Poland, on March 19, 1869, into a polonised family of Austrian high officials.
1898
Portrait of Józef Mehoffer by Stanisław Wyspiański, 1898.
Gołębia 24, 31-007 Kraków, Poland
Józef Mehoffer studied law at the Jagiellonian University.
plac Jana Matejki 13, 31-157 Kraków, Poland
Mehoffer studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts (now Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts) in Kraków between 1887 and 1894 under the direction of Jan Matejko, Izydor Jabłoński, Józef Unierzyski, and Władysław Luszczkiewicz.
31 Rue d'Ulm, 75005 Paris, France
Józef Mehoffer was a student of the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs.
14 Rue Bonaparte, 75006 Paris, France
From 1892 Mehoffer studied in the atelier of Leon Bonnat at the École Nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts.
plac Jana Matejki 13, 31-157 Kraków, Poland
In 1901 Mehoffer joined the staff of the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts (now Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts), where he occupied different positions.
Józef Mehoffer - the artist and his wife.
Józef Mehoffer, self-portrait.
Self-portrait by Józef Mehoffer.
Mehoffer was born in Ropczyce, Poland, on March 19, 1869, into a polonised family of Austrian high officials.
Józef Mehoffer studied law at the Jagiellonian University. Simultaneously, he studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków between 1887 and 1894 under the direction of Jan Matejko, Izydor Jabłoński, Józef Unierzyski, and Władysław Luszczkiewicz. He was also a recipient of scholarships in Paris and in Vienna. He was a student of Académie Julian (now ESAG Penninghen) and the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, later, together with Joseph Blanc and Jacques Courtois, he studied at Académie Colarossi, and eventually, from 1892, in the atelier of Leon Bonnat at the École Nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts.
Mehoffer's studies were followed by artistic trips to Germany and a sightseeing tour of Switzerland and France. There Józef Mehoffer admired the beauty of the Gothic cathedrals of Rouen, Amiens, Beauvais, and Strasburg. While in Italy in 1900, the artist learned the mosaic technique used in the workshops of Murano.
Mehoffer initially shared similar artistic tastes and a studio with Stanisław Wyspiański in Paris. Both worked on the design of their master's polychrome at the presbytery of St Mary's Church in Kraków in 1889, had jointly made the cartoon for the stained glass for St Mary's choir (1891) and competed against one another in contests, such as the one for the curtain at Kraków's Juliusz Słowacki Theatre (1891) or for stained glass windows for the Latin cathedral in Lviv (1894). Finally, each developed a distinct style and mastered different means of expression. While Wyspianski turned to Polish expressionism, Józef Mehoffer produced an original formula of decoration that evolved from of the style of Art Nouveau.
His art was greatly influenced by the monumental painting of Puvis de Chavannes, which he saw for the first time in Paris, and also the Nabist art, which he knew through Władysław Ślewiński. His art of the period of 1891-1895 was mainly influenced by Symbolism and Post-Impressionism.
From 1894 the artist regularly exhibited with Kraków's Society of Friends of Fine Arts and in 1895 he had his first exhibition at the Warsaw "Zachęta" Society for the Promotion of Fine Arts. Józef Mehoffer's one-man exhibitions took place at the Warsaw Zachęta Society in 1913, 1935 and 1937, and at the Kraków Society of Friends of Fine Arts in 1938 and 1945.
Mehoffer displayed his artworks at numerous international shows, including those in Vienna (1897, 1898, 1901, 1908, 1915, 1928), Berlin (1895, 1899), Paris (1900, 1925), St. Louis (1904), Düsseldorf and Munich (1905, 1909), Dresden (1909, 1913), Venice (1910, 1920, 1926), Rome (1911, 1934), London (1921), Brussels (1925), Helsinki and Florence (1927), Padua (1931), Philadelphia (1934) and Madrid (1935).
Józef Mehoffer's mature art, between 1895 and 1914, made an enormous contribution to the development of Symbolist iconography. After that the artist lightened up his palette, added a post-Impressionistic glimmer to colour and gave superiority to colour spots over the outline. The complicated metaphor of his early works gave way to a direct approach to nature and an affirmation of its beauty. During that time he mostly created landscapes.
Later in his artistic career, he turned to the production of portraits. His fascination with the decorativeness of elegant dress, stylish hats, noble, patterned fabrics and the intricate design of stained glass was at its best when he painted his wife. He usually depicted her against an ornamental background or inside interiors filled with various precious things.
Józef Mehoffer received international acclaim for his stained glass windows in the Gothic St Nicholas Collegiate Church in Fribourg, Switzerland; he worked on them during 1895-1936. His other stained glass designs included those for the Radziwill Chapel in Balice (1892), Grauer Chapel in Opava (1901), Holy Cross Chapel at Wawel (1904), Orgelmeister Chapel in Vienna (1910), cathedral in Włoclawek (1935-1940), cathedral in Przemyśl (1940) and church in Dębniki near Kraków (1943). Among his monumental art projects were also the polychrome designs of the Szafraniec treasury and chapel inside the Wawel cathedral (1900-1902 and 1906-1907, respectively), meeting room of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Kraków, Armenian cathedral in Lviv (1906-1910), Church of St John the Baptist in Turek (1933-1939) and church in Lubien near Piotrków Trybunalski (1942).
Starting from 1900, Mehoffer contributed to the Warsaw-based magazine Chimera; he designed covers, mastheads and also initials. Besides, he designed covers for the Poznań Expressionist magazine Zdrój (1917) and the monthly Wczoraj i dziś (1924), book covers, notably for Tadeusz Kruszynski's Dzieje sztuki chrzescijańskiej (A History of Christian Art, Kraków 1913), as well as posters, post stamps, banknotes and auction tickets. He also prodeced illustrations for books, including K. H. Rostworowski's Judasz z Kariothu (Judas Iscariot, 1913).
In addition to his career as an artist, in 1901 Mehoffer occupied the post of an associate professor at the chair of a decorative and religious painting of the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts (now Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts). He was appointed a professor in 1905 and was twice the Academy's chancellor, in 1914/1915-1917/1918 and 1932/1933).
After the the onset of the Second World War, he fled with his family to Lviv, where he was taken to a Nazi camp. Released through the diplomatic intervention of the Vatican and the Italian government, the artist returned to Kraków in 1940.
The Rose of Saron
(Portrait of Zofia Minder; ornamental fantasy.)
Paysage
(Sketch to the "Strange garden".)
Portrait study of a wife
(Sketch to "Strange Garden".)
Apostles
(St. Peter, John, James the Great, Andrew)
Zinnias
Portrait of Iza Axentowiczowa née Giełgud
Lantern
Self-portrait
Jezioro Jesienia
Three Kings
Flowers
Portrait of a Girl
Country Girl
Meduza I
Polychromy in the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Turek, Poland
Vita somnium breve
Garden
Sun in May
Allegory of Saving
Portrait of Maksymilian Ehrenpreis
Self Portrait
Pigalle Square in Paris
Three Angels
Portret of the wife on a yellow background
Wisla Pod Niepolomicami
Allegory of Prosperity
Portrait of Juliusz Kossak
Martyrs
Milky Way
Dziewczynka Goralska
Zona I Laury
Saints bishops and deacons
Portrait of sculptor Konstanty Laszczka
Strange Garden
Our Lady Victorious
Planty Park in Kraków
Portrait of Wanda Strażyńska
Eucharist
Meduza II
Europa Jubilans
Spiewaczka
Head of a Girl on a Golden Background
Stained glass window in the Holy Cross Chapel, Wawel Cathedral
Mosaic in the Armenian Cathedral in Lviv
Portret Zony Ornatowy
St. George, Michael, Anne and Mary Magdalene
The Sacred Heart of Jesus
La Gorge D'Areuse
Artist's Wife with Pegasus
Market Square in Kraków
Portrait of Father J. Joachim Berthier
Muse
Rozmowa
Red Umbrella
Józef Mehoffer was a founding member of the "Sztuka" [Art] Society of Polish Artists, which was established in 1897. He also was a member of the Hagenbund group in Vienna, Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris and the Royal Society of Friends of Fine Arts in Brussels.
Mehoffer was a husband of Jadwiga Janakowska.