Liberec

Although Liberec is the fifth-largest city in the Czech Republic and the capital of the Liberec Region – which borders Poland – it is not among the Czech towns most frequently visited by Polish tourists. This is a pity, as it has a number of attractions. Firstly, its picturesque setting in the Žitavská Valley on the Lusatian Neisse, at the foot of Ještěd (1,012 metres above sea level), which towers over the surrounding area in the Western Sudetes. Secondly, it boasts an interesting history, attractive historical monuments and valuable museum collections, some of which also feature a Polish connection.

The Heinrich von Liebieg Collection

An important part of Liberec’s cultural heritage is the collection of paintings on display at the Regional Gallery in Lázně (Lázně), comprising paintings collected by Heinrich von Liebieg (1839–1904), a member of a family of industrialists who rendered outstanding service to the town’s development in the second half of the 19th century. The family’s forefather – Johann Liebieg, founder of a textile factory (1828) – rose from the ranks of a humble weaver’s apprentice to become one of the most important industrialists in the Habsburg Empire. His son, Heinrich von Liebieg (1839–1904), expanded the family business whilst pursuing his passion for the fine arts. He was an avid collector. A significant part of his collection consisted of paintings by the French Barbizon School (atmospheric landscape painting), as well as 19th-century genre paintings from Austria and Germany (mainly from the Munich School).

The painting by the Polish artist Maksymilian Gierymski, ‘Sabbath on the Vistula’, is one of the exhibits on display in the exhibition showcasing this collection. Heinrich von Liebieg bequeathed it, along with his entire collection, in his will (1904) to the North Bohemian Museum in Liberec. Fortunately, the collection has survived to this day and provides an excellent illustration of the tastes of an educated bourgeois from the late 19th century.

One cannot overlook the architecture and history of the gallery building. It is a historic, exceptionally striking public baths building. It was opened in 1902 to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the reign of Emperor Franz Joseph I and was named after him. The building, in the 19th-century Historicist style, was designed by the Viennese architect Peter Paul Brang. Since 2014, following renovation, conservation and refurbishment, it has served as the home of the museum gallery.

Maksymilian Gierymski – a brief biography

This painting by the Polish artist is displayed as part of the exhibition of 19th-century landscape painting. However, it has been hung separately, allowing it to attract particular attention. Its artist, Maksymilian Gierymski (1846–1874), was one of the most important figures in Polish painting of the second half of the 19th century. He lived for just 28 years. He came from a family of civil servants in Warsaw. His younger brother Aleksander (1850–1901) also became a recognised painter. Maksymilian took part in the January Uprising, and subsequently studied art in Warsaw and Munich. Whilst in Munich, he developed his own painting style and gained recognition, not only amongst the large Polish artistic community there. His paintings were commissioned by international art dealers and collectors. In 1874, he became a member of the Academy of Arts in Berlin. He died prematurely of tuberculosis.

Maksymilian Gierymski is regarded as a leading exponent of academic realism in Polish painting. His scenes of uprisings set against his native landscape, hunting scenes and atmospheric landscapes inspired by the views of Mazovia and Podlasie have entered the canon of national works. Despite his short creative career, he secured a significant place in the history of Polish art.

‘Sabbath on the Vistula’

‘Shabbat on the Vistula’, on display in Liberec, was painted in 1871. It is an oil painting on canvas, rendered in a muted colour palette, with accents of colour and light that enliven the composition. The figurative scene, set against the backdrop of Warsaw on the Vistula, depicts Jews praying on the festival of Rosh Hashanah, commonly known as the Feast of Trumpets, or the Hebrew New Year. On this day, the sound of horns (wind instruments) heralds the festival, whilst prayer by the water, by the flowing river, offers the opportunity to be cleansed of sins. It is important to enter the New Year pure.

However, the group of Jewish worshippers in their characteristic attire does not fill the entire composition. The landscape in which the scene is set plays the most important role. The humble houses and the fence of this poor, riverside district of Warsaw; the moored boats; the steel-grey ribbon of the Vistula; the sandy, rutted road; the expanse of grass; the cloudy horizon. Added to this are figures who seem to be from another world: an elegant group observing the prayers, raftsmen by the boats, figures emerging from the twilight.

The composition is balanced; the figures are arranged rhythmically, their lighter-coloured attire emphasising the composition’s concept. The whole scene is set in the atmospheric twilight of evening, broken up by the scattered light of streetlamps or the illuminated interior of a house visible in the background. The colour scheme is varied but subdued. Malicious critics referred to this as the ‘Munich sauce’, which they claimed dampened the scene’s colourfulness.

It is, at the same time, a perfect example of an atmospheric composition. Stanisław Witkiewicz (the elder), a great connoisseur and admirer of Gierymski’s work, wrote of it: ‘Stimmung—that is, creating a painting from feeling and memory’. The painting is worthy of attention not only for its artistic calibre and virtuosity of brushwork, but also as a testament to the intermingling of cultures in old Warsaw—a phenomenon no longer seen on such a scale. An added ‘flavour’ to the work is the fact that the theme of Jews praying by the Vistula was taken up years later by Aleksander Gierymski. He created several versions of ‘The Feast of Trumpets’, quoting and paraphrasing his brother’s work, whilst demonstrating the painterly skills to surpass his achievements.

The significance of Gierymski’s painting in Heinrich von Liebieg’s collection

We do not know the circumstances surrounding the acquisition of Maksymilian Gierymski’s painting for Heinrich von Liebieg’s collection. Was it the result of a suggestion by art dealers, or was it a personal choice by the collector, who was keen to acquire works from the Munich art scene? Whatever the case, the presence of a Polish painting in the skilfully curated Liberec collection confirms the popularity and recognition that Maksymilian Gierymski enjoyed in Europe at that time.

Today, the entire exhibition of 19th-century landscape and genre painting deserves attention, as it serves as a reminder of a style of painting that once reigned supreme in the salons, though now somewhat forgotten, having been supplanted by later artists of successive waves of the twentieth-century avant-garde. It is worth remembering, however, that without the experiments of the Barbizon School and the innovations of the Munich School, subsequent breakthroughs in European painting might well have proved impossible. From our Polish perspective, it is well worth visiting the ‘Łaźnia’ Gallery in Liberec to discover the outstanding paintings of Maksymilian Gierymski and immerse oneself in an atmospheric scene that transports the viewer to a now-defunct multicultural world on the unregulated banks of the Vistula in Warsaw.