In Irkutsk, one of Siberia's major cities, the Museum of Art houses a unique collection of artworks that sheds light on the work of Polish artists who were exiled or settled in the area in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The Art Museum, as well as other local collections, hold works by artists who not only documented life in Siberia, but also left a lasting mark on the region's culture.

Most works by Polish artists found their way into the Irkutsk Museum of Art's collection not as a result of a planned policy of collecting polonics, but as part of a broader process of shaping the regional collection. In the 19th century, the Museum of the Irkutsk Branch of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, and later the City Museum, collected works by local artists and artists active in the region, regardless of their origin. Among them were also Poles - exiles, emigrants and artists associated with Siberia. Their works entered the collection mainly as gifts or purchases from private owners - Irkutsk collectors, researchers and members of scientific societies. Some came from scientific expeditions (such as the works of Leopold Nemirovsky), while others came from private homes and Catholic parishes, where they served utilitarian or commemorative functions for decades. The collection can be divided into paintings by exile artists and paintings that were painted outside Siberia and only found their way into art collections in Siberia.

Exile art - a document and an expression of identity

Many of these artists ended up in Siberia as political exiles after the November and January national uprisings. Their artistic activity, often supported by the local elite and administration, became a form of adaptation to the new conditions, but also a way of preserving their national and artistic identity.

The best known among them was Leopold Nemirovsky (1810-1883), an exile after the November Uprising and a participant in Ivan Bulychov's research expedition to the northern frontiers of Russia. His watercolours and drawings depicting the Chukotka and Koryak peoples gained recognition among scholars and collectors alike. An album of his works is in the collection of the Irkutsk Art Museum.

Portraitists and landscape painters of Siberia

The museum's collection also includes works by portrait artists. Piotr Krzyżanowski , active in Irkutsk in the 1860s, left portrait lithographs depicting the local merchant elite. In turn, Wladyslaw Kudelski , an architect and painter who settled in Irkutsk after exile, created a copy of a portrait of the well-known merchant J. Kuznetsov. Karol (Christian-Philipp) Reichel (1788-1857), a German painter commissioned by Russian officials, was an exceptional figure, but his work is also attributed to the Polish community. Among other things, he painted portraits of the imperator Aleksandra Fyodorovna and Nikolai Kandinsky. Among the painters documenting nature and everyday life in Siberia was Stanislav Vronsky (c. 1840-1898), a participant in geographical expeditions, author of numerous landscapes and genre scenes from the Tunka, Arshan and Ingoda rivers.

Sculptural works are also an important part of the collection. Wojciech Stanisław Koperski (c. 1845-1919), a carpenter by profession, was the creator of numerous sacred sculptures for the Catholic churches of Siberia. The museum collection in Irkutsk contains, among others, his wooden scene of the Crucifixion.

Other artists present in Irkutsk

Also noteworthy is Apollon Jakubowski (1831-1901 ?), known for his portraits of local dignitaries, including Governor-General Sinielnikov. Also worth mentioning is Jozef Baerkman (1838-1919), author of equestrian and genre works, who became popular with collectors in Siberia, and the landscape painter Mikołaj Dobrowolski , recognised as an artist of Polish origin.

The collection of the Irkutsk museum is not only a testimony to the individual fates of the artists, but also shows the contribution of Poles to the development of Siberian culture. In their work, the aesthetics of the European academy are intertwined with local themes and the experience of exile.

List of artists

Leopold Niemirowski (1810-1883) painter, printmaker, exile, author of lithographs and watercolours documenting Siberia and its people. His works are included in the album of the expedition of I. Bulyczow.

Piotr Krzyżanowski painter, graphic artist, created lithographs and portraits in Irkutsk, including a portrait of the merchant J. Kuznetsov (1861).

Vladislav Kudelsky (1838-after 1897) architect, copyist painter, author of a copy of the 1891 portrait of J. Kuznetsov.

Karl (Christian-Philipp) Reichel (1788-1857 ) painter, author of portraits including those of the Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna and Nikolai Kandinsky. He also created in Kiachta.

Józef Baerkman (1838-1919) painter, participant in the January Uprising, author of paintings on Siberian themes (e.g. 'Three', 'Four', 'Horseman with toons').

Stanisław Wroński (c. 1840-1898) painter and printmaker, landscape painter, participant in scientific expeditions, author of Siberian landscapes (e.g. "Tunka", "In the mountains of Arshana", "The road along the Ingoda river").

Wojciech Stanisław Koperski (ca. 1845-1919) sculptor and carpenter, creator of altars and sacred sculptures made of wood, author of sculptural works in the museum's collection, e.g. Crucifixion.

Apollon Jakubowski (1831-1901 ?) painter, author of portraits, e.g. of Governor-General Sinielnikov and Bishop Parfeniy.

Mikołaj Dobrowolski (1837-1900) landscape painter, author of the painting Crossing the Angara (although born in the Tambov Governorate, considered an artist of Polish origin).

Works by Polish artists from outside Siberia in the Museum's collection

Józef Oleszkiewicz (1777-1830), 'Portrait of an unknown', 1820s, oil on canvas, attributed to

Aleksander Orłowski (1777-1832) 'Portrait of P. Shalikow', 1809, drawing

Aleksander Szczepan Bakałowicz (1857-1947), 'Egisku kapłan czyta papierus', 1905, oil on canvas

Antoni Malinowski (b. 1856), 'Chutorek w letnią księżycową nocy', 1890, oil on canvas

Stanisław Żukowski (1873-1944), 'Gardens', 1902, oil on canvas

Stanisław Żukowski (1875-1944 ), 'Autumn (by the pond)', 1902, oil on canvas

Witold Pruszkowski (1846-1896), "Death of Anhelli", 1879, oil on canvas

Stanisław Nowakowski (1867-1928), 'Village in the mountains', ca. 1910, oil on canvas

The present text is an editorial compilation based on the article

Shnytko L., Shostakovich B., Zubriy H., 'The creative legacy of Polish artists in the collection of the Irkutsk Regional Museum of Art and in other museum and private collections of Irkutsk', [in:] 'Poles in science, economy and administration in Siberia in the 19th and early 20th centuries', ed. by A. Kuczynski, Wrocław 2007, pp. 581-609.