Munich as the Artistic Centre of Europe

In the second half of the nineteenth century, Munich became one of Europe’s leading artistic centres. Known for its rich cultural heritage and Baroque architecture, the city attracted young artists from across the continent, offering an inspiring environment and first‑rate training. The Akademie der Bildenden Künste München (Academy of Fine Arts, Munich), whose reputation extended far beyond Germany, played a decisive role in this process.

Particularly active from the 1840s, the academy provided a rigorous classical education with an emphasis on technique, drawing, composition and figurative painting. At the same time, it was open to new currents and formal experiment. Among its professors were Karl von Piloty, Wilhelm von Diez and Alexander von Wagner, who shaped successive generations of painters, sculptors and printmakers. The Akademie der Bildenden Künste München became known for technical discipline, precision and a narrative approach that often drew on history, myth and the genre scene.

However, Munich was more than merely an academic centre: in this city, art formed an integral part of public and social life. It was home to numerous galleries, art associations, publishing houses and institutions devoted to the promotion of art, including the Munich Kunstverein and the monumental Glaspalast, which regularly hosted major group exhibitions. The city offered artists opportunities to interact with collectors, critics and patrons, as well as spaces for creative experimentation.

A defining feature of Munich’s art community was its international character. Young artists came from Germany, Austria, Scandinavia, Russia, the Balkans and North America. Although rooted in the German cultural context, Munich was increasingly cosmopolitan, which encouraged the exchange of ideas and stylistic influences. In this atmosphere of creative freedom and vibrant artistic life, a variety of trends flourished: Realism, Naturalism, Symbolism and the earliest manifestations of Art Nouveau.

The commercial aspect of art was also significant. Owing to the high quality of execution and the appeal of their subjects, works produced in Munich were in demand not only across Europe but also in the United States. Many artists achieved considerable success on the art market, and their works entered prestigious private and museum collections.

Munich’s golden age as an artistic capital lasted from the mid‑nineteenth century until the outbreak of the First World War. After 1914, the city’s role diminished in favour of Berlin and Vienna, and the political upheavals of the 1930s brought an end to its former glory. Nevertheless, the legacy of the Akademie der Bildenden Künste München remains a vital part of European art history. In the heart of Bavaria, a generation of artists emerged who shaped the face of late‑nineteenth‑century painting, and the very model of artistic training and the organisation of creative life became an inspiration for other European centres.

Beginnings of the Polish Presence in Munich

The first Polish artists arrived in Munich in the 1830s and 1840s. In 1828, the sculptor Karol Ceptowski from Poznań enrolled at the Königliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste (Royal Academy of Fine Arts ), followed in subsequent years by painters such as Jan Baniewicz and Aleksander Lesser. At that time, the Polish presence was sporadic and individual rather than organised. This changed in the mid‑nineteenth century, especially after the defeats of the November (1830–31) and January (1863–64) risings, which spurred increased political and educational emigration. Many young artists, unable to develop freely under the rule of foreign powers, sought artistic freedom and European standards of training abroad. Munich, with its vibrant cultural life, growing international importance and open, cosmopolitan atmosphere, became one of the most attractive destinations.

Its appeal lay not only in the Academy’s prestige but also in the expansion of art institutions such as the Kunstverein (Munich Fine Arts Society), numerous private galleries and new museums, including the Neue Pinakothek and the Schack Gallery. One of Europe’s leading art markets of the era, Munich also offered a mild climate, favourable living conditions and, importantly, a welcoming attitude towards foreign incomers. Poles thus gained not only the opportunity to study but also genuine prospects for professional advancement.

The Königliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Munich, one of the foremost art schools in Europe, was renowned for its rigorous curriculum and high level of technical training. In the mid‑nineteenth century, its faculty included leading exponents of historical and realist painting: Karl von Piloty, Wilhelm von Diez and Franz Adam. Polish students, many already trained in Warsaw or Kraków, studied under these masters and soon began to gain recognition. Józef Brandt, one of the most distinguished representatives of Munich’s Akademie, opened his own studio just three years after beginning his studies and, in 1878, was appointed an honorary professor at the academy.

Until 1862, Poles formed only a small group – a few students per year – but from 1863 onwards, following the closure of the Warsaw School of Fine Arts, their numbers grew rapidly. By the 1870s, Polish artists had constituted the largest foreign national group at the academy. German writers even began to use the term “Polenkolonie” (Polish colony) to describe their organised and influential role in Munich’s artistic life. By 1914, more than three hundred Poles had studied at the academy, and over 150 were members of the Münchner Kunstverein, taking part in exhibitions, lotteries and promotional activities. Such membership eased their entry into the art market and helped them build professional networks.

The activities of Poles in Munich were not confined to education. Many ran their own studios or private painting schools, participated in solo and group exhibitions, collaborated with German collectors and dealers, and produced illustrations for books and magazines. A number of artists – including Józef Brandt, Władysław Czachórski, Alfred Wierusz‑Kowalski, Maksymilian Gierymski and Jan Bogumił Rosen – settled permanently in Munich, making it the centre of their professional and personal lives. Others, such as Józef Chełmoński and Wojciech Kossak, spent formative years there before returning to Poland, bringing with them the intellectual and technical expertise they had acquired in Bavaria.

Despite living in exile, most Munich‑based Polish artists maintained a strong national identity and close ties with their homeland through exhibitions, correspondence, travel and participation in artistic debates. Their works – often historical, genre or landscape scenes – testified to a culture that persisted in its mission through art, even under the rule of foreign powers.

This lively, diverse and mutually supportive milieu laid the foundations for what is now known as the Polish Munich School. Not a school in the institutional sense, it was rather a community bound by shared experiences, academic training, aesthetic sensibilities and social networks, which shaped a significant part of modern Polish painting. Artists who trained in Munich went on to help establish cultural institutions in Poland, educate new generations of painters and infuse Polish art with European standards and a universal dimension. Their legacy, preserved in paintings, documents and cultural memory, remains one of the most important chapters in the history of Poland’s presence in nineteenth‑century European art.

Karol Ceptowski: First Pole at the Königliche Akademie in Munich

The arrival of Karol Ceptowski, a sculptor from Poznań who began his studies in 1828, is regarded as the symbolic start of the Polish presence at the Königliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste. His stay was exceptional and did not yet mark the beginning of an organised pattern of artistic migration. Ceptowski belonged to a generation for whom studying abroad was rare. Though his work did not secure lasting fame, his significance lies in paving the way for future generations of Polish artists who would later choose Munich in large numbers as a place of study and professional growth.

The real wave of Polish students arrived only in the second half of the nineteenth century, especially in the 1860s and 1870s, when the academy was at its height. At that time, Munich was among Europe’s most important artistic centres, attracting art students not only with its high standards of teaching but also with its vibrant cultural life and relatively low cost of living. For many Poles deprived of access to modern art education at home, Munich became the obvious choice.

Among those who not only studied but also settled permanently in Munich, Józef Brandt holds a special place. An outstanding painter of battle and genre scenes, he soon became the informal leader of the Polish artistic colony. Brandt not only produced his own work but also ran a master’s studio, which became a point of reference for younger Polish painters such as Tadeusz Ajdukiewicz, Józef Chełmoński and Wacław Pawliszak.

He was not the only mentor. Stanisław Grocholski and Alfred Wierusz‑Kowalski, both successful in Germany and internationally, ran private painting schools in Munich that offered an alternative or supplement to academic training. These artists formed part of a lively network that made the city an important base for modern Polish painting.

Another key figure was Ignacy Korwin‑Milewski, an aristocrat, collector and patron, whose efforts created one of the most valuable collections of Polish painting from the second half of the nineteenth century, comprising works by almost all leading representatives of the Polish Munich School. His patronage extended beyond financial support, and he fostered an environment conducive to work, meetings and the exchange of ideas.

At its peak, the Polish artistic colony in Munich was one of the largest foreign communities associated with the academy. Between 1836 and 1914, some 650 Polish artists passed through the city, more than three hundred of whom were formally enrolled at the academy. Alongside formal study, social life played an important role. Café Tambosi was the favoured meeting place: a venue for artistic debates, storytelling and the making of creative plans. In a spirit of self‑mockery and affection, artists nicknamed Munich “Mnichów” (Monk Town) or “Bavarian Athens”.

Munich, which in time became an informal artistic capital for many Poles, served not only as a place of study but also as a hub for integration, work, the exchange of ideas and the development of international careers. Shared roots, similar experiences and mutual support fostered strong bonds between the artists, creating an exceptionally cohesive environment that left a lasting mark on the history of Polish art at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Leading Representatives of the Polish Munich Milieu

Among the most prominent artists associated with this milieu were Józef Brandt, Maksymilian Gierymski, Wojciech Kossak, Władysław Czachórski, Alfred Wierusz‑Kowalski and Roman Kochanowski. While diverse in theme and style, their work typically displayed academic technical precision, a commitment to realism, careful composition and a masterly use of chiaroscuro. Their canvases ranged from historical battle scenes to atmospheric landscapes, genre scenes and depictions of rural and noble life, including that of Kresy, or the Eastern Borderlands of Poland).

Józef Brandt: Leader of the Munich Artistic Colony

Józef Brandt (1841–1915) was one of the foremost figures of the Polish Munich School and among the leading painters of the later nineteenth century. Initially preparing for a career in engineering, he abandoned the sciences for art, and by the 1860s had become permanently based in Munich. There, at the heart of Bavarian artistic life, he developed his talent, achieved international renown and created a distinctive artistic brand.

Brandt became famous for historical and genre compositions deeply rooted in the realities of seventeenth‑century Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Recurring themes included battle scenes, Cossack skirmishes, army marches, fairs and episodes from the Ukrainian borderlands. He combined patriotic inspiration with an engaging painterly form, and imbued his works with dynamism, precise detail and strong narrative power. His paintings are notable for their sense of movement, tension, dramatic gestures and evocative group scenes.

In Munich, Brandt was both a prolific artist and a central figure in the community. His studio on Schwanthalerstraße became one of the principal hubs of Polish artistic life in the city, attracting young painters to whom he offered guidance, shared experience and often material support. Over time, his workshop evolved into an informal master’s school, attended by artists such as Tadeusz Ajdukiewicz, Wacław Pawliszak and Józef Chełmoński before their move to Paris.

Brandt’s influence extended beyond the artistic sphere. In Munich’s circles he was respected as a leader who represented Polish interests before German institutions, organised joint exhibitions and promoted Polish art in European salons. His standing was such that he was often referred to as the “Munich leader” of the Polish artistic community.

He also enjoyed international success. His paintings were exhibited in Berlin, Vienna, Paris and St Petersburg, garnering prizes and critical acclaim, and entered private and public collections across Europe. Despite his life abroad, Brandt remained connected to Poland; from the late 1870s he visited regularly, and in 1877 he purchased the palace at Orońsko, which became his summer residence and a venue for both work and hospitality to fellow artists.

Brandt’s oeuvre represents a synthesis of patriotism, technical mastery and European sophistication. While firmly part of the Munich School, his work also reflects an individual passion for historical research and a profound connection to the traditions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. His activities contributed not only to promoting Polish art abroad but also to fostering a strong, integrated and creative community of artists in Munich: one of the most significant Polish artistic colonies of the nineteenth century.

Maksymilian Gierymski: Poetics of Light and the Memory of the January Rising

Maksymilian Gierymski (1846–1874) was among the most gifted yet tragic figures of the Polish Munich School. Although he died at just twenty-eight, his works have secured a lasting place in nineteenth‑century Polish art. An artist of exceptional sensitivity, he combined the precision of realism with a poetic sensibility, often rooted in national themes.

Like Józef Brandt, Gierymski studied at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste München, enrolling in 1867. Even as a student he distinguished himself through his precise technique and exceptional powers of observation. Munich became for him not only a place of study but also a space for artistic self-realisation. Although his stay in the city lasted only a few years, he became permanently associated with its milieu: it was there that he produced his most important paintings and achieved his greatest artistic success.

Gierymski’s work encompassed hunting scenes, landscapes and paintings related to the January Rising. The latter – such as “Insurgent Patrol” and “Insurgent Picket” – enjoyed particular popularity, combining documentary narrative with a meditation on the tragedy of history. His treatment of the national liberation struggle eschewed pathos while favouring melancholy and a reflective mood. Rather than glorifying heroism, he depicted moments of stillness, anticipation and transience, which introduced a new quality to historical painting.

Chiaroscuro played a crucial role in his art. His mastery of light, mood and colour harmony made his landscapes almost meditative compositions. Winter vistas, empty fields, forests and roads at dusk or dawn appealed to viewers through atmosphere rather than dramatic action. The poetic quality of his work was not the result of stylisation but of a profound capacity to contemplate nature and the human condition.

Gierymski achieved success at exhibitions in Munich, Vienna and Berlin, earning praise not only from his compatriots in the Polish colony but also from German art critics. Despite his young age, he was regarded as one of the most talented landscape painters of his generation. Struggling with progressive tuberculosis, he died prematurely in 1874.

Although his career was cut short, Maksymilian Gierymski introduced a new sensibility to Munich painting: lyrical, reflective and attuned to nuance and atmosphere. He left a small yet remarkably coherent and valuable body of work that continues to fascinate with its simplicity and depth. His art stands among the purest and most delicate expressions of the Munich School’s spirituality; it also bridges the divide between a faithful representation of reality and its poetic reinterpretation.

He died of pulmonary tuberculosis on 16 September 1874 in Reichenhall (today Bad Reichenhall) in Bavaria and was buried in the cemetery of St Zeno’s Church, where his gravestone has been preserved.

Wojciech Kossak: Continuator of the Battle Painting Tradition

Wojciech Kossak (1856–1942) belonged to the next generation of artists shaped in Munich. The son of Juliusz Kossak, a renowned painter of historical and genre scenes, he was raised in an environment steeped in national tradition and the culture of the nobility. For him, study at prestigious foreign academies was a natural choice, and Munich – then the European capital of realist painting – was an obvious destination.

Kossak began his studies at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste München in 1874, quickly integrating into the local milieu. He drew inspiration both from his teachers’ techniques and from contact with members of the Polish colony. His particular interest lay in battle painting: he followed in the footsteps of Józef Brandt but enriched the tradition with greater narrative dynamism and emotional drama.

His battle compositions, depicting scenes from the Napoleonic Wars, the November Rising, Prince Józef Poniatowski’s campaigns and other conflicts of the Partition era, were noted for their monumentality, vivid dramaturgy and precise rendering of military detail: uniforms, weaponry, formations and tactics. Like his father and Brandt, Kossak ensured historical accuracy, which gave his works both artistic and educational value.

Like many Munich painters, Kossak did not confine himself to one city. Although Munich was crucial to his formation, he later worked in Paris, Vienna, Kraków and Warsaw, where he accepted numerous public and private commissions. His international activity brought him wide recognition, and his style became one of the most recognisable in Polish art at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

An important aspect of Kossak’s career was his involvement in monumental painting projects, such as the historical panoramas created with Jan Styka (“Racławice Panorama”) and Tadeusz Popiel. These large‑scale works, aimed at a broad public, had strong patriotic and educational overtones; they reinforced collective identity during the Partitions.

Although in later years Kossak’s style was criticised by the younger generation of modernists, his influence on the development of historical and battle painting in Poland was immense. On the one hand, he represented the traditional current; on the other, his works played a vital role in preserving historical memory. Kossak shaped the national imagination and popularised the history of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth among a broad public.

As an artist trained in Munich, Wojciech Kossak remains the symbolic heir and continuator of the Munich School tradition: one founded on high technical mastery, a strong attachment to historical subjects and a conscious cultural mission. His work, full of passion and panache, enjoys the pride of place in the history of Polish patriotic art and marks the final chord of an era in which Munich was still the principal centre for the artistic formation of Polish painters.

Józef Chełmoński: Poet of the Polish Countryside and Nature

Józef Chełmoński (1849–1914) is one of the most recognisable figures of the Polish Munich School, whose works have become part of the canon of national realist painting. Although his career also unfolded outside Munich, particularly in Paris, the years he spent in Bavaria (1872–75) were a formative stage in the development of his style and artistic identity.

Chełmoński entered the Akademie der Bildenden Künste München in 1872 and quickly won the recognition of his professors and fellow Poles. Though surrounded by the influence of German academic and historical painting, he remained committed to native subject matter. His canvases from this period depict Polish village life, nature studies, galloping horses, farmyards and realistic portrayals of peasant daily life.

In contrast to the monumental narratives and heroic scenes of the battle painters, Chełmoński focused on seemingly ordinary scenes, imbued with a deep attachment to his homeland and its people. His art reveals a fascination with light, changing weather, movement in nature and the immersive experience of the landscape. His celebrated horses were not mere spectacles but expressive symbols rooted in Polish custom and national mythology.

Among Chełmoński’s best‑known works are “Babie lato” (“Indian Summer”), “Bociany” (“Storks”), “Kuropatwy” (“Partridges”) and “Odjazd gości zimą”(“Departure” or “Departure of Guests in Winter”), as well as numerous rural landscapes and genre scenes. Painted with meticulous attention to detail, they convey mood and emotion, earning him international fame, particularly in France, where critics and collectors valued his realism and sensitivity to light.

A milestone in his career was the General National Exhibition in Lwów (Lviv in modern-day Ukraine) in 1894, where he received an honorary diploma. This was both an acknowledgement of his achievements and a confirmation of his role in shaping Polish visual culture when under the rule of partitioning powers.

Although Chełmoński did not belong to a group of artists united by a single style or programme, his time in Munich and his connections with its artistic community had a marked influence on his development. Shared experiences with other Polish painters, engagement with European trends and rigorous academic training enabled him to forge a distinctive pictorial language: deeply rooted in the realistic representation of nature yet open to lyricism and existential reflection.

Józef Chełmoński remains one of the most authentic “poets of the brush” in the history of Polish painting: an artist capable of capturing the beauty of ordinary moments, the rhythm of nature and the charm of rural life without lapsing into sentimentality. While his work bears the imprint of the Munich School, it transcends academic convention, uniting observation with emotion and reality with poetry.

Władysław Czachórski: Elegance and Artistry of Salon Painting

Among the artists of the Munich School, Władysław Czachórski (1850–1911) occupies a special place. His work exemplifies the refined salon style: technically flawless, highly decorative and aimed at Europe’s affluent elite. Like many of his compatriots, Czachórski studied at the the Akademie der Bildenden Künste München, where he soon earned a reputation for his extraordinary precision and subtle painterly language. Unlike painters of rural genre or dramatic historical scenes, Czachórski focused on the elegant world of the upper classes and on imaginative compositions. 

He specialised in figure paintings of a salon character: carefully staged scenes often portraying young, beautiful women in sumptuous interiors, absorbed in reading, reverie or music. These works drew attention not only for their beauty but for the meticulous, almost photographic rendering of detail: the texture of lace, silk and satin, the gleam of polished wood, the translucence of porcelain and the sparkle of jewellery. His style shows a clear debt to seventeenth‑century Dutch masters such as Gerard Terborch and Jan Vermeer, whose love of detail and light effects inspired his own aesthetic explorations.

Literary themes, particularly from Shakespeare’s plays, were important in Czachórski’s work. Paintings such as “Ophelia” and “Juliet” present their heroines not merely as theatrical figures but as allegories of emotion and states of mind, blending classical narrative with a modern, psychological approach.

Munich became for him not only a place of education but also the centre of his life and artistic career. He remained in the city for the rest of his life, maintaining a studio, exhibiting in prestigious galleries and participating in numerous international exhibitions. His paintings enjoyed great success: they were eagerly commissioned and purchased by wealthy collectors from Germany, Austria-Hungary, England and Russia. Unlike many of his compatriots in the Polish art colony, Czachórski operated within the international art circuit from the outset, consciously producing works of a transnational, cosmopolitan character.

His commercial success brought him fame and financial stability, yet after his death he became the subject of criticism. The painter and critic Eligiusz Niewiadomski accused him of lacking spiritual depth, of catering to bourgeois taste and of failing to realise his full artistic potential. Such opinions, voiced particularly by the Young Poland avant-garde, contributed to his partial eclipse in the twentieth century.

Today, however, Czachórski’s work is undergoing a revival. His paintings fetch high prices at auction, and their technical mastery, decorative finesse and subtle charm are once again valued by collectors and art historians. Czachórski remains one of the leading exponents of salon-style academic painting, and his oeuvre stands as a significant record of the aesthetic culture of the later nineteenth century, a culture shaped by Munich’s artistic training yet oriented towards the wider sphere of European art.

Roman Kochanowski and His Final Years in Bavaria

Roman Kazimierz Kochanowski (1857–1945) was an accomplished landscape painter educated in the Munich circle. Though less widely known than Brandt or Chełmoński, he holds a place in the history of Polish landscape painting. Living and working in Munich for most of his life, he is remembered for quiet, atmospheric landscapes depicting country roads, forest glens, fields and forlorn vistas of both southern Germany and his native Galicia.

Kochanowski began his artistic studies in Kraków and then, like many of his contemporaries, went to Munich, where he continued his education at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste München. He became attached to the city for life, finding there not only an artistic milieu but also inspiration and recognition. He primarily painted realistic landscapes, often imbued with a reflective mood and softened by light, which lent his scenes an almost poetic quality.

Although his paintings lacked the drama and patriotic themes favoured by many other Polish artists in Munich, Kochanowski succeeded in capturing the spirit of the place: the contemplative essence of nature and the changing of the seasons. He paid particular attention to the interplay of light and the colouring of sky, mist and cloud, creating subtle, almost intimate portraits of the landscape.

Alongside his easel paintings, he worked in illustration and applied graphics, collaborating with, among others, German and Austrian publishing houses. His works were reproduced in magazines and calendars, which brought him broad popularity and provided a steady source of income at times when the sale of paintings was uncertain.

Kochanowski remained in Bavaria until the end of his life, even throughout the Second World War, despite advancing age and difficult conditions. He died in Freising in 1945, shortly before the end of the war, and was laid to rest in Munich’s Forest Cemetery (Waldfriedhof): a necropolis of exceptional artistic and historical significance, where many eminent figures of German and Polish culture are buried. His grave, surrounded by those of other artists, scholars and intellectuals, stands as a silent testament to his enduring ties with the city and its milieu.

Although not among the artistic leaders of the Polish Munich colony, Roman Kochanowski left a coherent and distinctive body of work that is now being rediscovered by collectors and art historians. His paintings, preserved in the National Museum in Kraków, the Silesian Museum in Katowice and other collections, reveal an artist who was focused, sensitive and faithful to a realist aesthetic, yet at the same time individual and highly expressive.

Late Period of the Munich School

The influx of Polish art students to Munich continued without interruption after 1875, though over time the number of outstanding figures capable of rivalling the masters of the earlier generation declined. At the centre of artistic life remained the undisputed leaders: Józef Brandt and Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski, who not only pursued their own creative work but also supported younger artists, opening their prosperous studios to them and granting access to their rich collections of Polish props, textiles and costumes. Their homes, famed for their hospitality and artistic splendour, became meeting places for successive generations of Polish painters.

As the academy became increasingly open and international in character, private schools grew in importance, especially those run by established artists. One particular magnet for students from Poland was the private school founded in 1886 by the Hungarian painter Simon Hollósy, who also organised summer plein-air courses in Transylvania and Hungary. By 1911, around thirty Poles had attended, and their experience of working directly from nature complemented their academic training while introducing a freer, more impressionistic approach to landscape and light.

In November 1887, the Munich magazine “Die Kunst für Alle” published a symbolic illustration: a painter’s palette featuring characteristic motifs by eight Polish artists, including Brandt and Fałat. At the time, this was a popular form of artistic group self-portrait. The accompanying commentary observed that “the harmony of the whole makes it easy to see what a common school these artists form, even if J. von Brandt’s genius has left its mark, exerting a greater or lesser influence on each of them”. German critics such as Friedrich Pecht noted that the Poles – despite their stylistic differences – displayed traits rooted in their national character, and that their presence in Munich had evolved into a clearly defined and distinctive artistic school.

The final two decades of the nineteenth-century Munich. Alongside Realist and academic painting, new currents emerged, inspired by French Impressionism, Art Nouveau and the English Arts and Crafts movement. Munich became one of the centres of Jugendstil, particularly after the founding of the magazine “Jugend” in 1896, which promoted modern graphic, illustrative and decorative forms. Polish artists – including Stanisław Grocholski, Wacław Szymanowski, Edward Okuń, Feliks Wygrzywalski, Otolia Kraszewska and Olga Boznańska – actively engaged with this movement; they exhibited with the Münchener Secession, contributed illustrations to “Jugend” and developed new forms of visual expression that balanced academic discipline with the flowing line, colour and symbolism of Art Nouveau.

The school of Anton Ažbe, a Slovenian painter and teacher whose studio served as a meeting place for artists of many nationalities, was also highly popular at this time. Around thirty Poles studied under him, and his best-known pupils included future luminaries of Russian painting and the European avant-garde: Alexei Jawlensky and Wassily Kandinsky. Ažbe promoted a modern approach to colour, composition and the construction of the human figure; his school was renowned for its liberal atmosphere and experimental teaching methods, which attracted many young artists disillusioned with academic formalism.

In 1897, the magazine “Jednodiówka monachijska” (“One-Day Munich”) was published: a one-off venture by a group of Polish artists working in the city, modelled on French and German art periodicals such as “Jugend” and “Gil Blas Illustré”. It featured illustrations, reproductions of paintings, poems and prose by Polish émigré artists, including Olga Boznańska, Władysław Czachórski, Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski, Aleksander Gierymski and Władysław Wanke. Though short-lived, it was a significant initiative, reflecting a strong sense of community and the desire to affirm the presence of Polish artists in Munich’s cultural life.

Between 1890 and 1914, the Akademie der Bildenden Künste München continued to admit Polish students, with 125 enrolling during this period, forty-five of them after 1900. According to Halina Stępień and Maria Liczbińska, a total of 322 Poles undertook official studies in Munich between 1828 and 1914, not counting those who attended public schools, worked locally without formal academic training or were affiliated with the Kunstverein. If one includes all documented artists – painters, sculptors and architects – the number of Poles who passed through Munich’s artistic milieu approaches seven hundred.

By the end of the first decade of the twentieth century, new artistic currents associated with Expressionism, Symbolism, Arts and Crafts and the avant-garde were gaining ground in Munich. With the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, the presence of the Polish Munich School came to a definitive end; young artists increasingly looked towards Paris, Berlin or their native Kraków and Warsaw. The era of the Polish artistic colony in Munich closed, leaving a rich legacy of hundreds of paintings, illustrations, drawings and documents, and the memory of an international milieu that had shaped the course of modern Polish art for nearly a century.

An exceptional record of the presence of Polish painters in Munich is provided by Carl Teufel’s photographs from the late nineteenth century. He documented the interiors of the studios of nine Polish artists, including Brandt, Czachórski, Wierusz-Kowalski and Rosen. Today, these photographs are preserved at the Deutsches Dokumentationszentrum für Kunstgeschichte – Bildarchiv Foto Marburg; they constitute an invaluable iconographic source.

Themes and Styles of Munich Painting

Historical and, above all, battle painting was one of the most recognisable genres among Polish Munich artists. Artists such as Józef Brandt, Wojciech Kossak and Antoni Piotrowski produced compositions depicting battles, skirmishes, army marches and scenes involving Cossacks, confederates or noblemen. These works were characterised by strong narrative drive, dramatic impact and meticulous attention to historical detail. Such paintings met the patriotic needs of audiences during the Partitions while offering visually striking representations full of movement and expression. Another important current was the genre scene, inspired by the everyday life of villages and small towns. Chełmoński, Wierusz-Kowalski, Grocholski and Witkiewicz drew on motifs such as fairs, hunting, farm work and rural life. Their paintings included both dynamic, colourful moments and quiet, contemplative scenes showing people in natural, unidealised surroundings. Landscape also held a prominent place, treated not merely as a backdrop but as an autonomous subject. Maksymilian and Aleksander Gierymski, Roman Kochanowski and Józef Szermentowski depicted Polish and Bavarian landscapes in a moody, reflective manner, focusing on seasonal change, the play of light and the transient atmosphere of the moment.

Another hallmark of the Munich School was its salon scenes and portraits, particularly in the work of Władysław Czachórski and Kazimierz Pochwalski. These compositions depicted elegant interiors, beautiful women absorbed in reading or music, and subjects drawn from classical literature, especially Shakespeare. These decorative works were noted for their masterly rendering of detail, their meticulous treatment of fabrics and props, and their sensitive play of light.

The style of the Munich painters was shaped to a large extent by the academic model of teaching, which emphasised precision in drawing, composition, perspective, the handling of light and the realistic depiction of reality. Realism here was not merely an aesthetic stance but also a workshop discipline: artists were trained to observe nature closely and to translate it faithfully into the language of painting. A hallmark of their style was their command of chiaroscuro, building the atmosphere of a work through subtle transitions of colour and nuanced tonal gradation. Although their palette was generally subdued, it was perfectly suited to conveying the aura of the scenes depicted: from winter dawn to summer dusk.

The Munich painters were renowned for their meticulous attention to detail. Every element, from the weave of cloth to the ornamentation of jewellery to the reflections of light on porcelain, was rendered with precision. In this respect, the influence of seventeenth-century Dutch painting is evident, particularly in the work of Czachórski, who explicitly drew on masters such as Gerard Terborch. Despite these shared characteristics, the style of the Munich School was far from uniform; on the contrary, it encompassed a diversity of individual approaches, ranging from the narrative vigour of Brandt, through the poetic stillness of Gierymski, to the salon-like opulence of Czachórski.

All these elements – technical excellence, richness of subject matter, emotional depth and attention to detail – made the paintings of the Polish Munich School an important part of the artistic heritage of the era. Their works were shown in prestigious exhibitions in Munich, Vienna, Berlin and Paris, were sought after by collectors and played a prominent role in shaping the artistic tastes of Polish society at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth century. Although many of these artists were criticised for academicism or commercialism during the modernist period, their output is today recognised as a valuable and representative example of art that successfully combined high technical skill with national identity and European refinement. The paintings of the Munich School, deeply rooted in reality yet open to metaphor and atmosphere, continue to appeal to contemporary viewers and stand as testimony to a period when art was both a record of history and a means of emotional engagement with reality.

The Munich School as a Source of National Identity

Although it never functioned as a formalised artistic group, the Polish Munich School developed a set of shared characteristics that allow it to be regarded as a significant phenomenon in nineteenth-century Polish art. This formation was characterised by a diversity of individual creative approaches and certain recurring thematic and stylistic features, shaped by the Munich model of education, exposure to European artistic trends and the distinctive cultural experience of Polish artists working abroad. The subject matter of Munich painters was rich and varied, though several dominant trends can be identified.

One of the most recognisable was historical painting, particularly battle scenes. Artists such as Józef Brandt, Wojciech Kossak and Antoni Piotrowski produced compositions depicting battles, skirmishes, troop marches and scenes involving Cossacks, confederates or noblemen. These works were marked by strong narrative energy, dramatic effect and close attention to historical accuracy. Such paintings met the patriotic needs of audiences during the Partitions while offering striking, movement-filled representations. Another important current was the genre scene, inspired by the everyday life of villages and small towns. Chełmoński, Wierusz-Kowalski, Grocholski and Witkiewicz drew on motifs such as fairs, hunting, farm work and peasant life. Their paintings encompassed both dynamic, colourful moments and quiet, contemplative scenes depicting people in natural, unidealised settings. Landscape also played a prominent role, treated not as a mere backdrop but as an autonomous subject. Maksymilian and Aleksander Gierymski, Roman Kochanowski and Józef Szermentowski portrayed Polish and Bavarian landscapes in a moody, reflective manner, focusing on seasonal change, the play of light and the atmosphere of the moment.

Salon scenes and portraits, particularly in the work of Władysław Czachórski and Kazimierz Pochwalski,  were also characteristic. These depicted elegant interiors, beautiful women absorbed in reading or music, and subjects drawn from classical literature, especially Shakepeare. Such decorative works were admired for their meticulous attention to detail, including the rendering of fabrics, furnishings and the nuanced effects of light.

The style of the Munich painters was shaped to a large extent by the academic model of teaching, which emphasised precision in drawing, balanced composition, mastery of perspective, the handling of light and the realistic depiction of the world. Realism here was not merely an aesthetic choice but also a workshop discipline: artists were trained to observe nature closely and to translate it faithfully into the language of painting. A hallmark of their style was their command of chiaroscuro, building a work’s atmosphere through subtle transitions of colour and nuanced tonal gradations. Although their palette was generally subdued, it was well suited to evoking the moods of the scenes portrayed: from winter dawn to summer dusk.

The Munich painters were also distinguished by their meticulous attention to detail. In their works, every element, from the texture of cloth to the ornamentation of jewellery to the reflections of light on porcelain, was given its place and executed with precision. This aspect of their art reveals the influence of seventeenth-century Dutch painting, particularly in Czachórski’s work, which drew directly on masters such as Gerard Terborch. Despite these shared traits, the style of the Munich School was far from uniform; on the contrary, it embraced a range of individual approaches, from the narrative vigour of Brandt, through the poetic stillness of Gierymski, to the salon-like opulence of Czachórski.

All these elements, technical mastery, thematic richness, emotional depth and attention to detail, made the work of the Polish Munich painters an important part of the artistic legacy of the era. Their paintings were exhibited in prestigious venues in Munich, Vienna, Berlin and Paris, found favour with collectors and played a notable role in shaping the artistic tastes of Polish society at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth century. Although many faced accusations of academicism or commercialism during the modernist period, their output is now recognised as a valuable and representative example of art that successfully combined high technical skill with national identity and European sophistication. The paintings of the Munich School, deeply rooted in reality yet open to metaphor and atmosphere, continue to engage contemporary audiences and stand as testimony to a time when art served both as a record of history and as a means of emotional connection with reality.

Heritage in Museum Collections and Cultural Memory

The legacy of the Polish Munich School extends beyond works preserved in museums in Warsaw, Kraków, Poznań and modern-day Lviv, Ukraine. Many traces of the activity of artists from this milieu survive outside Poland, particularly in Germany, where for decades they created, exhibited, taught and organised artistic life. Today, numerous paintings, drawings, prints, documents and memorabilia associated with the Munich artists can be found in museum collections and archives in Berlin, Munich, Dresden, Leipzig, Kiel, Biberach, Potsdam, Marburg and Bad Reichenhall.

The Museum of Fine Arts in Leipzig houses one of Józef Brandt’s later works, “Wyjazd na polowanie (“Setting out for the Hunt”, 1883), depicting horsemen in a dynamic composition full of movement and vitality. The Braith-Mali-Museum in Biberach an der Riß, meanwhile, holds several of Brandt’s notable canvases, including the early “Na pastwisku” (“Grazing Horses”, 1869), the genre scene “Przed karczmą. Ułani w polskiej wsi” (“At the Inn: The Lancers in the Polish Countryside”) and the expressive “Kozak na warcie” (“Cossack Watchman”,1878). These works are not only evidence of the artist’s style but also testify to the keen interest among German collectors in the subjects related to Kresy, or the Eastern Borderlands of Poland.

Berlin’s Kupferstichkabinett, part of the State Museums in Berlin, preserves Brandt’s drawings and watercolours, including “Tatar pokonujący rzekę” (“Tartar Riding through a River”), “Polski jeździec i koń przed komorą celną” (“Polish Horseman with His Horse in Front of the Toll House”, 1877) oraz “Polskie furmanki na szosie” (“Polish Peasant Wagons on the Country Road”). Executed in drawing and mixed techniques, these works reveal the artist’s exceptional technical skill and his fascination with borderland scenes, charged with tension and marked by encounters between different cultures.

In Dresden, the Galerie Neue Meister (Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden) holds “Łupieżcy nad rzeką” (“The Looters by the River”, “Der Beutezug am Fluss”, 1874), a monumental scene of robbery by Brandt that forms part of the broader European tradition of narrative history painting. Munich, the centre of this artistic community, has retained several of his outstanding works in the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, including “Polskie zaprzęgi chłopskie” (“Polish Peasants Harnessing Horses”), also known as “Żydzi jadący na jarmark” (“Jews Leading Horses to the Market”, 1865), “Kozacy pytający o drogę” (“Cossacks Asking the Way”, 1874) and “Studium wyjazdu Marysieńki” (“Preparatory Study for ‘Marysieńka’s Departure from Wilanów’”, c. 1897).

The Kunsthalle zu Kiel houses a notable painting by Maksymilian Gierymski, “Polowanie par force na jelenia” (“Parforce Hunt”,1874). This large-format canvas (96.5 × 192 cm), signed “Roma”, depicts a dynamic hunting scene and ranks among Gierymski’s most important works preserved outside Poland.

The memory of Munich’s Polish artists is also maintained through their burial places. The Waldfriedhof (Forest Cemetery) in Munich is the final resting place of Roman Kochanowski, the distinguished landscape painter who spent most of his life working in Bavaria. Maksymilian Gierymski’s grave is located in the small cemetery adjoining St Zeno’s Church in Bad Reichenhall, where he died in 1874 before he could return to his homeland.

One of the most valuable records of the daily life of Polish artists in Munich is a series of studio photographs taken by Carl Teufel after 1889, now preserved in the Deutsches Dokumentationszentrum für Kunstgeschichte – Bildarchiv Foto Marburg. These images depict Józef Brandt, Władysław Czachórski, Jan Bogumił Rosen, Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski, Zdzisław Suchodolski, Franciszek Streitt and Antoni Kozakiewicz in their studios, surrounded by easels, props, pupils and models. They provide unique documentation not only of the artistic workspace but also of the atmosphere of the milieu: one of intense work, exchange of ideas and the constant presence of art.

The works, documents and material traces of the Munich artists’ presence in Germany today form an important part of Polish-German cultural heritage. They recall a time when art was not merely an aesthetic pursuit but also a means of shaping identity, fostering intercultural dialogue and sustaining Polishness under the rule of partitioning powers. The paintings of the Munich School, now held in museums in Berlin, Munich, Leipzig, Dresden, Potsdam and Kiel, are therefore more than objects in art collections: they are lasting witnesses to a culture that linked Central Europe and transcended national, linguistic and political boundaries.

Catalogue of objects
1. Leipzig 
Museum der Bildenden Künste
“Wyjazd na polowanie (“Setting out for the Hunt”) – Józef Brandt, 1883, oil on canvas.

2. Biberach an der Riß
Braith‑Mali‑Museum (Museum Biberach)
“Na pastwisku” (“Grazing Horses”, 1869) – Józef Brandt, 1869, oil on canvas.
“Przed karczmą. Ułani w polskiej wsi” (“At the Inn: The Lancers in the Polish Countryside”) – Józef Brandt, undated, oil on board.
“Kozak na warcie” (“Cossack Watchman”) – Józef Brandt, 1878, oil on canvas.

3. Berlin
Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
“Tatar pokonujący rzekę” (“Tartar Riding through a River”) – Józef Brandt, undated, pen drawing, elaborate.
“Polski jeździec i koń przed komorą celną” (“Polish Horseman with His Horse in Front of the Toll House” – Józef Brandt, 1877, watercolour and gouache on paper.
„Polskie furmanki na szosie” (“Polish Peasant Wagons on the Country Road”) – Józef Brandt, undated, watercolour and gouache on paper.

4. Dresden
Galerie Neue Meister, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden
“Łupieżcy nad rzeką” (“The Looters by the River”, “Der Beutezug am Fluss”) – Józef Brandt, 1874, oil on canvas.

5. Munich
Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus und Kunstbau
“Polskie zaprzęgi chłopskie” (“Polish Peasants Harnessing Horses”), also known as “Żydzi jadący na jarmark” (“Jews Leading Horses to the Market”) – Józef Brandt, 1865, oil on canvas.
“Kozacy pytający o drogę” (“Cossacks Asking the Way”, 1874) – Józef Brandt, 1874, oil on canvas.
“Studium wyjazdu Marysieńki” (“Preparatory Study for ‘Marysieńka’s Departure from Wilanów’”, c. 1897) – Józef Brandt, c. 1897, oil on board.
Forest Cemetery (Waldfriedhof), Munich.

The Kunsthalle zu Kiel houses a notable painting by Maksymilian Gierymski, “Polowanie par force na jelenia” (“Parforce Hunt”,1874)

6. Kiel 
Kunsthalle zu Kiel
“Polowanie par force na jelenia” (“Parforce Hunt”, “Hirschjagd”) – Maksymilian Gierymski, 1874, oil on canvas.
Size: 96.5 × 192 cm.
Inv. no. 903.
Signed: M. Gierymski Roma 1874.
Owner: Kulturstiftung des Landes Schleswig‑Holstein.

7. Bad Reichenhall
Cemetery at St Zeno’s Church
Tombstone of Maksymilian Gierymski – after 1874

8. Potsdam
Potsdam Museum – Forum für Kunst und Geschichte
“Bitwa pod Zorndorfem”(“Battle of Zorndorf”) – Wojciech Kossak, 1899, oil on canvas

9. Marburg
Deutsches Dokumentationszentrum für Kunstgeschichte – Bildarchiv Foto Marburg
Photographs of the studios of Polish painters in Munich – Carl Teufel, after 1889
Artists depicted:
Józef Brandt, Szymon Buchbinder, Władysław Czachórski, Franciszek Ejsmond, Antoni Kozakiewicz, Jan Bogumił Rosen, Franciszek Streitt, Zdzisław Suchodolski, Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski

10. Savannah
Telfair Academy Museum, Savannah
“Potyczka”(“A Skirmish”,“Ein Gefecht”) – Józef Brandt, 1888, oil on canvas

11. Bucharest
Muzeul Colecțiilor de Artă, Bucharest
“Tatarzy ścigani przez polską kawalerię” (“Tatars Pursued by Polish Cavalry”) – Józef Brandt

12. Liberec
Regional Gallery Lázně
“Szabat and Wisłą” (“Shabbat on the River Vistula”) – Maksymilian Gierymski, 1871, oil on canvas

Artists Associated with the Munich School

Tadeusz Ajdukiewicz (1852–1916)

Witold Ajdukiewicz (1876–1913)

Aleksander Augustynowicz (1865–1944)

Teodor Axentowicz (1859–1938)

Jan Baniewicz (1803–1881)

Józef Brandt (1841–1915)

Olga Boznańska (1865–1940)

Szymon Buchbinder (1853–1908)

Adam Chmielowski (St Brother Albert) (1845–1916)

Józef Chełmoński (1849–1914)

Jan Chełmiński (1851–1925)

Karol Ceptowski (1801–1847)

Florian Cynk (1838–1912)

Władysław Czachórski (1850–1911)

Walery Eljasz‑Radzikowski (1841–1905)

Franciszek Teodor Ejsmond (1859–1931)

Julian Fałat (1853–1929)

Aleksander Gierymski (1850–1901)

Maksymilian Gierymski (1846–1874)

Jan Nepomucen Głowacki (1802–1847)

Michał Gorstkin‑Wywiórski (1861–1926)

Stanisław Grocholski (1858–1932)

Artur Grottger (1837–1867)

Gustaw Gwozdecki (1880–1935)

Alfons Karpiński (1875–1961)

Apoloniusz Kędzierski (1861–1939)

Roman Kochanowski (1857–1945)

Ignacy Korwin‑Milewski (1846–1926)

Juliusz Kossak (1824–1899)

Wojciech Kossak (1856–1942)

Otolia Kraszewska (1859–1945)

Alfred Wierusz‑Kowalski (1849–1915)

Stanisław Lentz (1861–1920)

Ludwik de Laveaux (1868–1894)

Aleksander Lesser (1814–1884)

Jan Matejko (1838–1893)

Kazimierz Pochwalski (1855–1940)

Wacław Pawliszak (1849–1915)

Ignacy Pieńkowski (1877–1948)

Antoni Piotrowski (1853–1924)

Tadeusz Popiel (1863–1913)

Witold Pruszkowski (1846–1896)

Kazimierz Pułaski (1861–1947)

Bronisława Rychter‑Janowska (1868–1953)

Jan Bogumił Rosen (1854–1936)

Zygmunt Rozwadowski (1870–1950)

Tadeusz Rybkowski (1848–1926)

Józef Simmler (1823–1868)

Zofia Stryjeńska (1891–1976)

Franciszek Streitt (1839–1890)

Henryk Szczygliński (1881–1944)

Ludwik Stasiak (1858–1924)

Zdzisław Suchodolski (1835–1908)

Józef Szermentowski (1833–1876)

Władysław Szerner (1836–1915)

Wacław Szymanowski (1859–1930)

Pantaleon Szyndler (1846–1905)

Stanisław Witkiewicz (1851–1915)

Leon Wyczółkowski (1852–1936)

Feliks Wygrzywalski (1875–1944)

Władysław Wankie (1860–1925)

Aleksander Wagner (1838–1919)

Franciszek Żmurko (1859–1910)