Walenty Wańkowicz (born in Kaluzyce, near Minsk, 1800; died in Paris, 1842) was a Polish Romantic painter whose work is particularly known in Poland and the Baltic countries. In Belarus he is honored as one of the most important 19th-century painters of Belarusian origin. He matters chiefly for his portraits of prominent figures of his time, among them the poet Adam Mickiewicz.
He came from a noble family of the Polish-Lithuanian lands. He was educated at the Jesuit college in Polotsk and then studied art at the University of Wilno from 1818, later continuing at the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. During these years he mixed with figures from the Congress Kingdom of Poland. After returning to Minsk, from 1839 he travelled abroad often, visiting Dresden, Berlin, Munich, Strasbourg and Paris, where he died.
His portrait style pairs careful attention to the sitter's face with a sober, intimate tone typical of Romanticism. His best-known works include the portrait of Adam Mickiewicz, dated 1827-28, the portrait of Karol Lipiński (1822), the portrait of Maria Szymanowska (1828) and the scene Woman Playing Solitaire (1829). He also worked in miniature, although the sources available do not allow the extent of that output to be established.
His legacy survives above all in Minsk, where a monument honours him and where the former family mansion is now a museum. His portrait of Mickiewicz remains a key reference in his work.
Works (4)
Oil on canvas portrait by Walenty Wańkowicz, dated 1850, depicting Wojciech Puslovsky. The available record offers no further information about its commission, composition or setting, so any additional reading would be speculative. It stands as an example of portraiture in mid-nineteenth-century Polish painting.
Portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte painted by Walenty Wańkowicz in 1834 in oil on canvas. The work is held at the National Museum in Warsaw. Judging by its title, the scene appears to show the emperor beside a bonfire, but the available information says little about its commission or context, so caution is needed.
Portrait of Stanisław Chomiński (1804-1886), painted in 1824 by Walenty Wańkowicz. It is an oil on canvas of medium size, held at the National Museum in Warsaw. As a portrait, it presents the sitter directly to the viewer, though the available information does not clarify the commission or the circumstances behind it.
Where to see the work
- National Museum in Warsaw Warsaw · 3
- Lithuanian National Museum of Art Vilnius City Municipality · 1
Teachers and pupils
Studied with
- Jan Rustem 1762–1835
Curiosities
A mansion turned museum
The former family home of the Wańkowicz family, also known as the Vankovich House, stands in the historic part of Minsk. It is now a museum that recalls the setting where the painter grew up. Its presence in the old town shows how his memory remains tied to the city where his family lived.
A resting place in Montmartre
Wańkowicz died in Paris in 1842, a city he had visited during his many European journeys. He is buried in the Montmartre Cemetery, one of the best-known burial grounds in the French capital. The painter who portrayed Polish and Lithuanian figures thus ended his life far from his homeland.