Józef Mehoffer

Józef Mehoffer (19 March 1869 – 8 July 1946) was a Polish painter and decorative artist, one of the leading artists of the Young Poland movement and one of the most revered Polish artists of his time.^[1]

Józef Mehoffer
Self-portrait (1897), National Museum, Kraków
Born	Józef Edler von Mehoffer (1869-03-19)19 March 1869 Ropczyce, Austro-Hungary
Died	8 July 1946(1946-07-08) (aged 77) Wadowice, Poland
Nationality	Polish
Known for	Painting, drawing
Notable work	Strange Garden (1902-1903), Portrait of Wife (1904)
Movement	Art Nouveau, Young Poland
Awards	Order of Polonia Restituta, Wawrzyn Akademicki

Life

Józef Mehoffer Museum in Kraków

Mehoffer was born in Ropczyce, studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków under Władysław Łuszczkiewicz, and later at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, as well as in Paris at the Académie Colarossi among others. There Mehoffer began painting portraits, often of people of historical significance. He later expanded his work to include different techniques, such as graphic art, stained glass, textiles, chalk drawings, etchings and book illustrations. He produced set designs for theatre, and stylized furniture designs.

Mehoffer received international acclaim for his stained glass windows in the Gothic St Nicholas Collegiate Church in Fribourg, Switzerland produced in 1895–1936. His other stained glass designs include the Radziwill Chapel in Balice (1892), Grauer Chapel in Opava (1901), church in Jutrosin (1902), Holy Cross Chapel at Wawel (1904), sepulchral chapel in Goluchów (1906), Orgelmeister Chapel in Vienna (1910), cathedral in Włocławek (1935–1940), cathedral in Przemyśl (1940) and church in Dębniki near Kraków (1943). There are stained glass designed by Mehoffer in the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Turek; in the same church there are also mural paintings made by Mehoffer.

Mehoffer explored various media further throughout his career to include a range of applied arts in his projects. He manufactured a multiplicity of book covers, ornaments and posters. Mehoffer – aside from his versatility in studio art – became known for his frescoes often reminiscent of medieval art. He frequently collaborated with Stanisław Wyspiański and Jan Matejko. He died in Wadowice.

Marriage and Family

In September 1899, Mehoffer married Jadwiga Janakowska, whom he had met five years earlier in Paris.^[2] They had a son, Zbigniew (1900–1985).^[3] Janakowska was the artist's muse and frequently posed for his portrait paintings.^[2]

Gallery

• 
  Strange Garden (1902–1903), National Museum in Warsaw
• 
  Portrait of Wife (1904), National Museum in Kraków
• 
  Sun in May (1911)
• 
  Vita somnium breve, stained-glass, 1895, National Museum in Kraków
• 
  Interior of the Holy Cross Chapel, Wawel
• 
  Stained-glass in Fribourg Cathedral
• 
  Window of the Three Magi in Fribourg, Switzerland
• 
  Window of martyrs in Fribourg, Switzerland
• 
  100 złotych, 1934, issued by the Bank of Poland
• 
  Cathedral in Turek

See also

• Culture of Kraków
• List of Polish people