Franciszek Żmurko
1859 - 1910

Son of a mathematician from Lvov, Żmurko was first taught drawing in Lvov by the painter Franciszek Tepa. Afterwards he continued his education at the School of Fine Arts in Kraków under Jan Matejko in 1876, and then in 1877, in Vienna. There he studied first at the Academy of Fine Arts and later, discouraged by the professors' set routine, continued on his own. At the end of 1877, he left for Munich, where he studied under Aleksander Wagner for six months. He then returned to Kraków in 1880. Having received an Emperor Francis Joseph's scholarship, Żmurko spent several months in Rome. Living in Warsaw beginning in 1882, he traveled extensively, including St. Petersburg (1883-1884), Paris (1884-1885, 1889) and Milan (1894).

Żmurko painted monumental historical and biblical compositions based on motifs: ancient (Messalina's Death), oriental (At Padishah Order, Hashish) and literary (Courtesan). Naturalistic, perfectly polished paintings delighted both the critics and the public, and their sensu-al, or even erotic atmosphere, sometimes with a touch of perversity created a great popularity for Żmurko's works. He was the author of the famous women's "heads," which were repeated several times and became immensely popular, probably because they all share some kind of semi-passionate, naive sentiment. The soul is asleep, thoughts do not bother most of his models; however, the senses seem to be awakening unconsciously in the rich bodies. This sensuality is particularly visible in Żmurko's nudes, in the languid, exhausted pose, which he usually gives his women (see Żmurko 1899, p. 766). According to a contemporary critic, for many years every elegant office belonging to a man needed one of Żmurko's stylish and tasteful studies (see Poprzęcka 1991, p. 23).

He exhibited his works on a regular basis at Aleksander Krywult's exhibition room in Warsaw (1881-1883), at the Zachęta Society of Fine Arts, at the Society of Friends of Fine Arts in Kraków (1880, 1888, 1894-1895, 1900, 1902), as well as at numerous international exhibitions in Paris, London, Chicago, and San Francisco. In 1911, a posthumous exhibition of over 150 of the artist's works was held at Zachęta.

-- Anna Król

Works in the collection: