Some people may associate her with impressionism, yet her art was actually much closer to pure modernism or postimpressionism. One simply cannot fathom the depth of Polish art without mentioning the great artist Olga Boznańska.
She began her study of painting with Antoni Adam Piotrowski, then under Kazimierz Pochwalski, and later at Adrian Baraniecki’s painting courses. In 1886 she left to study in Munich and attended private art schools there.
She primarily created portraits, and received numerous prizes and awards for them. For her portrait of painter Paweł Nauen, for example, she was awarded a gold medal by Archduke Karl Ludwik of Vienna, and in London for her portrait Miss Mary Breme – a distinction. In 1896, the jury of the Société des Beaux-Arts in Paris accepted one of her paintings for an exhibition.
After these successes, Olga Boznańska received a proposal to take the chair of painting at the women’s faculty of the Kraków School of Fine Arts, which she rejected. By around 1900, the great artist had created her own style that is cherished today.
