Background
Wojciech Stanisław Weiss was born in 1875 in Leorda, Romania. He was the son of Stanisław Weiss and Maria (nee Kopaczyńska).
In 1888 he was sent to study in Lvov at the St. Joseph Gymnasium.
At the end of 1890, his parents moved to Płaszów, a suburb of Kraków, where Wojciech continued his education at Kraków's St. Anna Gymnasium. Although he was not enrolled, he also attended evening drawing classes at the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts, where he finally enrolled in 1892.
At the end of 1890, his parents moved to Płaszów, a suburb of Kraków, where Wojciech continued his education at Kraków's St. Anna Gymnasium. Although he was not enrolled, he also attended evening drawing classes at the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts, where he finally enrolled in 1892.
In 1888 he was sent to study in Lvov at the St. Joseph Gymnasium.
1895
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1950
Wojciech Stanisław Weiss was born in 1875 in Leorda, Romania. He was the son of Stanisław Weiss and Maria (nee Kopaczyńska).
In 1888 Wojciech was sent to study in Lvov at the St. Joseph Gymnasium. At the end of 1890, his parents moved to Płaszów, a suburb of Kraków, where Wojciech continued his education at Kraków's St. Anna Gymnasium. Although he was not enrolled, he also attended evening drawing classes at the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts, where he finally enrolled in 1892. He completed his studies in 1898, receiving a gold medal and the Franciszek Urbański scholarship.
In 1896, Wojciech took his first trip around Europe, visiting Wrocław, Berlin, Dresden, Prague, Vienna, and Budapest. In the autumn he enrolled in Leon Wyczółkowski's master's class, and the following year he spent three weeks in Paris, visiting the Louvre, the Luxembourg Gallery, and Versailles. While there he painted “Self-Portrait with an Apple”, followed by “Schoolgirls in the Park” upon his return. In 1898, Weiss received a gold medal prize from the government. He painted “The Melancholic” and “The Consumptive” the same year, and showed the former at the 2nd Exhibition of the "Sztuka" Polish Artists Society.
Wojciech began plein-air painting in Strzyżów in 1899, and it was there, around the turn of the century, that he painted his most expressive landscapes: “Kiss on the Grass”, “Radiant Sunset”, “Poppies”, “Evening”, “Shallows”, and “Ghost in the Willow.” That August he did more such painting in Zakopane with Wyczółkowski and Tetmajer, and in October he went to Paris. He took up graphic arts, making his first etchings around the time his parents moved to the Kraków neighborhood of Podgórze.
In 1890 Wojciech spent more time in Paris, as well as taking a three-week trip with his friend Tadeusz Okoń to Treport, Normandy. In Paris he created a series of works that paint a dark portrait of a turn-of-the-century metropolis, the most famous of which are “Self-Portrait With Masks”, “Café d'Arcourt”, “Morgue in aquatints”, and “Luxembourg Gardens at Night.”
That autumn, Weiss spent a lot of time painting in Strzyżów. He also received a scholarship from Count Tyszkiewicz, and his “Portrait of Parents” won a gold medal at the Paris Exposition Universelle. In 1901, Weiss used Count Tyszkiewicz's scholarship to finance a trip to Italy, where he stayed in Florence and Venice. There, he made friends with Antoni Procajłowicz, Wilhelm Mitarski, and Włodzimierz Perzyński. That autumn, he painted landscapes and fantastic compositions in Strzyżów and Odrzykoń. In 1902, while in Rome and Florence, he painted the landscapes “From the Palatine Hippodrome”, “In a Florence Bower”, and “Pierrot and Colombina.”
Weiss began collaborating with the Warsaw-based periodical "Chimera", and exhibited his work at the Krywult salon. In 1903, Antoni Łada Cybulski and Konstanty Górski described his style in a booklet published by Sztuka Polska and financed by H. Altenberg in Lviv, and the following year Weiss painted “Demon”, “City Funeral”, “Musicians”, and “Cello Player.” He and his father bought a house with an orchard in Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, and Weiss rented a studio on Podzamcze street near Wawel Castle. There he painted a series of brilliant (mostly male) nudes.
The year 1906 marks the beginning of Weiss's "white" period, which lasted through 1912. In 1909, Weiss had his first solo exhibition in the salon of the Society of the Friends of Fine Arts (TPSP) in Kraków . He was nominated associate professor of the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts in 1910, and took his students on plein-air painting trips to Poronin in the Tatra mountains. In 1913, he was nominated full professor of the Kraków ASP, and took a trip to Italy.
At that time, Wojciech was making Cézanne-esque watercolors and oil landscapes. Between 1915 and 1918 he often painted in Kalwaria, mainly creating landscapes (“Orchard in Kalwaria” and “Summer”, 1916; “Afternoon Tea in the Garden”, 1916; and “Autumn. Parents Under a Pear Tree”, around 1920). He also painted compositions with mythological staffage (“Ceres”, 1916), religious rituals from the Kalwaria region and family portraits.
During the 1918 - 1919 academic year, Weiss was appointed independent Poland's first vice-chancellor of the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts (ASP). He undertook to reorganize the academy and amend its statutes, and he opened it up to allow women to study in the artistic faculties. He took his students on plein-air painting trips to Zakopane, Bukowina Tatrzańska and Puławy. From 1924 to 1934, he sat on the editorial board of the periodical "Sztuki Piękne", which published a comprehensive description of his work by Stanisław Świerz in 1925.
Wojciech exhibited a lot during the interwar period and won numerous awards for his works, including the 1919 Polish Academy of Learning prize for “Floriańska in Mourning” and the 1924 Warsaw Arts Society Salon award for “Helen.” He won the jury's award at the 1st National Salon in Kraków , and a year later the gold medal for Advertising at the TPSP Jubilee Salon in Warsaw. He actively participated in the organization of the exhibitions of the Society for the Promotion of Polish Art Among Foreigners, working with them until 1939. In 1937 he received an award for lifetime achievement, and in 1939 he was awarded an honorary prize for “Fishes” (Art Propaganda Institute exhibition, Warsaw) and an honorary mention for “Storm” (3rd Maritime Exhibition, Zachęta).
Following the outbreak of the Second World War, Weiss continued to hold his post as vice-chancellor of the Kraków Academy through December 1939; he even returned to the academy after the war to make sure its collection was safe. In 1946 he received his pension. Around that time, he painted a series of compositions reflecting the new reality, including “Strike”, “Look”, “Wonderful Peace March”, and “Manifesto.” In 1948 he received the City of Kraków award for lifetime achievement, and in 1950 he won first prize in the field of painting for Manifesto at the 1st National Exhibition of Fine Arts in Warsaw. He died on December 6, 1950.
Wojciech was awarded the Probus Barczewski Polish Academy of Learning Prize for his painting “Fruits.” Following the outbreak of the war in 1914, Weiss went to Vienna, where he was decorated with the Bavarian Order of St. Michael and the Austrian Medal of the Iron Crown. On his fiftieth birthday he was awarded the Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta, and in 1934 he staged the largest of the post-war solo exhibitions, where he also presented the work of his disciples.
Obsession
1900Radiant Sunset
1902Aneri in a Deck Chair
1918Model Reading a Newspaper
1923Manifesto
1950Ice Skating
Landscape with a Red Tree
Artist's Wife in the Garden
Blossoming Orchard
Winter Landscape in Kalwaria
Horse in Front of An Inn
Spring Orchard with a Church
Portrait of Ignacy Pienkowski
Model
Red Ribbon
1896Portrait Of The Girl In The Navy-Blue Dress
1895Blue-Gold Act
1935Wojciech Weiss adhered to the artistic traditions of Art Nouveau and Socialist Realism.
In 1898, after meeting Stanisław Przybyszewski, Weiss started collaborating with the Kraków -based periodical "Życie" and joined the "Sztuka" Polish Artists Society. Between 1905 and 1906 he was a member of the Vienna Secession and was active with the Society of the Friends of Fine Arts in Kraków, having been appointed to its board in 1907. That same year, Weiss became a full member of the "Zachęta" Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts, and was also appointed presidium member of the First National Congress of Polish Fine Artists in Warsaw.
In 1908 Wojciech married his student, Irena Silberberg, who would become his favorite model and the subject of many of his portraits.
