Antoni Piotrowski
Encyclopedia
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
Romanticist
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
and Realist painter.
Piotrowski was born in Nietulisko Duże
Nietulisko Duze
Nietulisko Duże is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Kunów, within Ostrowiec County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in south-central Poland. It lies approximately north-west of Kunów, north-west of Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, and east of the regional capital Kielce.The village has a...
in 1853 near Kunów
Kunów
Kunów is a town in Ostrowiec County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, Poland, with 3,153 inhabitants .-External links:*...
, then in the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
(today in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
), to a sheet iron worker. From 1869 on, Piotrowski studied painting with professor Wojciech Gerson
Wojciech Gerson
Wojciech Gerson was a Polish painter and professor.Born in Warsaw, Gerson enrolled at the Warsaw Fine Arts Academy and graduated with honorable mention and a scholarship to St. Petersburg Academy of Arts where he studied historical painting under A. T. Markov. He graduated from St. Petersburg with...
. From 1875 to 1877 he was tutored in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
by Wilhelm Lindenschmit the Younger
Wilhelm Lindenschmit the Younger
Wilhelm Lindenschmit was a German history painter who was a native of Munich. He was the son of painter Wilhelm Lindenschmit the Elder .thumb|right|W. v. Lindenschmit d...
and from 1877 to 1879 his teacher was Jan Matejko
Jan Matejko
Jan Matejko was a Polish painter known for paintings of notable historical Polish political and military events. His most famous works include oil on canvas paintings like Battle of Grunwald, paintings of numerous other battles and court scenes, and a gallery of Polish kings...
of the Academy of Fine Arts
Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts
The Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts, or Kraków Academy of Fine Arts , located in Kraków, Poland, is the oldest Polish fine-arts academy, established in 1818.It is a state-run university that offers 5- and 6-year Master's degree programs...
in Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
.
In 1879, Piotrowski arrived to the newly-liberated
Liberation of Bulgaria
In Bulgarian historiography, the term Liberation of Bulgaria is used to denote the events of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78 that led to the re-establishment of Bulgarian state with the Treaty of San Stefano of March 3, 1878, after the complete conquest of the Second Bulgarian Empire, which...
Principality of Bulgaria
Principality of Bulgaria
The Principality of Bulgaria was a self-governing entity created as a vassal of the Ottoman Empire by the Treaty of Berlin in 1878. The preliminary treaty of San Stefano between the Russian Empire and the Porte , on March 3, had originally proposed a significantly larger Bulgarian territory: its...
as a correspondent of the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
issues The Graphic
The Graphic
The Graphic was a British weekly illustrated newspaper, first published on 4 December 1869 by William Luson Thomas's company Illustrated Newspapers Limited....
and The Illustrated London News and the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Illustration and Le Monde Illustré
Le Monde Illustré
Le Monde illustré was a leading 19th century illustrated newsmagazine in France. Many of its highly realistic drawings were actually made from photographs, at a time when photographic reproduction in print was not technically feasible....
. He moved to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
only to return to Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
in 1885 to join the Serbo-Bulgarian War
Serbo-Bulgarian War
The Serbo-Bulgarian War was a war between Serbia and Bulgaria that erupted on 14 November 1885 and lasted until 28 November the same year. Final peace was signed on 19 February 1886 in Bucharest...
as a Bulgarian volunteer. For his merits during the fighting he was honoured with an Order of Bravery
Order of Bravery
The Order of Bravery is a Bulgarian order during the Kingdom of Bulgaria and the Republic of Bulgaria. It is the most esteemed Bulgarian order and the second highest in the Kingdom of Bulgaria and forth highest in the Republic of Bulgaria...
.
During his time in the Bulgarian Army Piotrowski painted the Battle of Slivnitsa
Battle of Slivnitsa
Called by historians the "Battle of the captains vs the generals," referring to the young Bulgarian army, whose highest rank went up to a captain, the Battle of Slivnitsa was a decisive factor in the victory of the Bulgarian army over the Serbians on November 17–19, 1885 in the...
, the storming of Tsaribrod
Dimitrovgrad, Serbia
Dimitrovgrad is a town and 483 km² large municipality located in the Pirot District of the Republic of Serbia. According to 2011 census, the municipality of Dimitrovgrad has a population of 10,056 people and the town 6,247.-Name:...
and the Bulgarian entry in Pirot
Pirot
Pirot is a town and municipality located in south-eastern Serbia. According to 2011 census, the town has a total population of 38,432, while the population of the municipality is 57,911...
. All his nine military works were purchased by the Bulgarian state and are exhibited in the National Museum of Military History in Sofia
Sofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
. He also published graphics
Graphics
Graphics are visual presentations on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, computer screen, paper, or stone to brand, inform, illustrate, or entertain. Examples are photographs, drawings, Line Art, graphs, diagrams, typography, numbers, symbols, geometric designs, maps, engineering drawings,or...
from the war in various Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
an illustrated issues. Among his works were also portraits of Bulgarian princes (knyaz
Knyaz
Kniaz, knyaz or knez is a Slavic title found in most Slavic languages, denoting a royal nobility rank. It is usually translated into English as either Prince or less commonly as Duke....
e) Alexander of Battenberg
Alexander, Prince of Bulgaria
Alexander Joseph, Prince of Bulgaria GCB , known as Alexander of Battenberg, was the first prince of modern Bulgaria, reigning from 29 April 1879 to 7 September 1886.-Early life:...
and Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha; Piotrowski was awarded an Order of Civil Merit by the latter.
Piotrowski returned to Bulgaria in 1889: he visited Batak
Batak, Bulgaria
Batak is a town in Pazardzhik Province, Southern Bulgaria, not far from the town of Peshtera. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Batak Municipality. As of December 2009, the town has a population of 3,498 inhabitants.- Geography :...
and painted his epic canvas The Batak Massacre
Batak massacre
Batak massacre refers to the massacre of Bulgarians in Batak by Ottoman irregular troops in 1876 at the beginning of the April Uprising. The number of victims ranges from 3,000 to 5,000, depending on the source.- The Massacre :...
. This painting of his won an award at the Plovdiv Fair
International Fair Plovdiv
International Fair Plovdiv , held in Plovdiv, is Bulgaria's largest and oldest international trade fair. It was established in August 1892 as an industrial and agricultural show....
in 1892. In 1900 Piotrowski returned to Poland and settled in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
. In 1905, he was a war correspondent in Manchuria
Manchuria
Manchuria is a historical name given to a large geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria usually falls entirely within the People's Republic of China, or is sometimes divided between China and Russia. The region is commonly referred to as Northeast...
. He died in 1924 in Warsaw.