Julian Fałat
1853 - 1929

Julian Fałat was born to a family of a country organist. During the years 1869-1871, he studied at the School of Fine Arts in Kraków under Władysław Łuszczkiewicz and Leon Dembowski. From 1871 to 1892, Fałat lived in the Ukraine and produced drawings for the archeologist and collector Stanisław Krzyżanowski. He also worked as an architect's assistant in Odessa for a short period of time. In the fall of 1873, he left for Switzerland for three years to work as a draftsman for a railway-building project. From 1877 to 1880, he studied in Munich at the Academy of Fine Arts in the studios of Alexander Strahuber and Johann Leonhardt Raab. In 1880, he spent a few months in Rome. In 1881, the artist settled in Warsaw and from there traveled to Lithuania, Zemaitija, Paris and Spain. In 1885, he sailed around the world through the Suez Canal, calling at Ceylon, India, Japan and the United States.

In 1886, an exhibition of his watercolors depicting hunting scenes from Nieśwież, the Radziwiłł family estate, was held in Berlin. As a result, Fałat was appointed the court painter to Wilhelm II, the Emperor of Prussia. The emperor's court acknowledgement of his artistic skills opened the door to an international career for Fałat. In 1895, he was appointed rector of the School of Fine Arts in Kraków, where he decided to settle for good. He reformed the school, employed remarkable young artists such as Jacek Malczewski, Teodor Axentowicz, Jan Stanisławski, Józef Mehoffer and Stanisław Wyspiański, and finally succeeded in transforming the existing institution into the Academy of Fine Arts in 1900. He remained its rector until 1909. Julian Fałat was also a founding member of the Society of Polish Artists "Sztuka", and the Vienna Secession.

At the beginning of his artistic career, Fałat was influenced by masterpieces of German academic painting. Initially he painted huge realistic compositions depicting scenes from the lives of poor town people, but later he changed the subjects and style of his pictures. His encounter with Impressionism led him to represent brief moments in everyday reality by means of boldly contrasting hues. The artist painted the same motifs at different times of the day and in different seasons. He made himself known for two continually repeated themes: "reporting" hunting scenes and snowy winter landscapes. After 1900, he painted almost solely "pure" landscapes without accessory elements, showing views of winter scenery. He frequently explored the motifs of a sinuous riverbank covered in snow or a forest treated in a synthetic, decorative manner. Fałat was able to paint snow glittering in the sun with masterly skill, rendering its substantial character and soft fluffiness. He worked in oils, crayons and watercolors, often replicating his most popular works.

Exhibitions of his works were held regularly at the Society of Friends of the Fine Arts in Kraków (from 1874 on), the Society for Encouragement of the Fine Arts in Warsaw (from 1878 on), the Salon of Aleksander Krywult (1880-1905), and the Salon of Czesław Garliński (1922, 1923, 1925). He contributed to almost all the exhibitions of the Society of Polish Artists "Sztuka" in home country and abroad. His works were displayed at numerous international exhibitions, among others in Berlin, Munich and Dresden. Fałat was awarded a gold medal three times. During his lifetime, one-man shows of the artist's works were held in Warsaw (1888), Poznań (1910 and 1927) and Lvov.

-- Anna Król

Works in the collection: