Description:
Joseph Mehoffer (1869-1946) in 1887 concurrently began his studies at the Cracow School of Fine Arts and the Faculty of Law at the Jagiellonian University, then he continued his studies in Vienna. Thanks to the scholarship he obtained in March 1891, he went to Paris, where he attended universities there. He shared a studio with Stanislaw Wyspianski, with whom he implemented joint projects, as well as confronted projects for the same competitions. The artist‘s great success was winning the competition for stained glass windows for the collegiate church in Freiburg in 1895. His projects gave him international fame. Mehoffer was a member of artistic organizations both in Poland and abroad. He exhibited his works in his home country and in Europe. In 1900 he was appointed professor of painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow, and then obtained the rank of ordinary professor. In the years 1914–1918 and 1932–1933 he was rector of this university. In his creative work he dealt with both monumental and easel painting, but also graphics and scenography and interior design. He is referred to as one of the most important artists of the Young Poland period.
Description of the painting:
The sketch shows a profile of a young girl. The model‘s body is bent forward. Her head is supported by her bent elbow. Her face is surrounded by a wild mane of hair falling forward, forming a background for her. The artist has detailed the arrangement of strands, which are in disarray. The features of the face are clear and frozen in pain. The girl covers her eyes with her hand. The folded dress has no clear shape.
Description of the painting: “Despair“ is a study of a figure mourning the martyrdom of St. Catherine, part of the collegiate window in Freiburg “Martyrs: St. Catherine and St. Barbara“
Tekst: Katarzyna Bartosiak
Literatura:
Galeria Rogalińska Edwarda Raczyńskiego, oprac. M.Gołąb, A.Ławniczakowa, M.P.Michałowski, [katalog wystawy w Muzeum Narodowym w Poznaniu, listopad 1997-marzec 1998], Poznań 1997, poz. kat.261.