Henryk Siemiradzki: Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings, Vol. 3: Siemiradzki Studies

The present volume Siemiradzki Studies, the product of research undertaken within the framework of the preparation of the Catalogue Raisonné of his paintings, comprises an attempt at an overview of the artist's work, from a possibly wider perspective than that which was possible in the earlier volumes, taking into account not only the conclusions of art historians, among them curators of museum collections, but also those of archeologists and the conservators of artworks.

This interdisciplinary aspect finds expression in the broad thematic spectrum of Studies which constitutes the opening section of the present volume, concentrating as they do, on the one hand, on relations between the work of Siemiradzki and the artistic heritage of Ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt, from the artist's first contact with this tradition during the course of his studies in the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts to the period of his residence in a Rome teeming with Antiquity, and, on the other hand, his associations, both technical and institutional, with contemporary European painting, taking particular account of Russian painting, together with his influence upon the development of artistic life of a Poland divided into three partition sectors. The Studies are complemented by an Appendix containing unpublished drawings and selected details of painted textures from the painting Candleholders of Christianity (Świeczniki chrześcijaństwa, cat. 7), a listing and discussion of collections with archival sources, as well as a general bibliography for the Catalogue Raisonné, embracing the entire life and activities of the artist.

The section of Studies devoted to art-historical researches includes articles concerned with less familiar aspects of the work of Siemiradzki: his earliest artistic efforts, maintained within the realist convention, which are discussed by Agnieszka Świętosławska; his studies at and subsequent relations with the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, discussed by Veronika Irina Bogdan; and the origins and context of the development of his decorative compositions, analysed by Marzena Królikowska-Dziubecka. In the "technical" section Paulina Adamczyk and Magdalena Laskowska summarise their conclusions regarding the artist's graphical technique, while Dominika Sarkowicz presents her conclusions on his painting technique.

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