Johann NIEDERMANN (1759-1833). "Portrait of a... Lot 152

Johann NIEDERMANN (1759-1833). "Portrait of a Polish dignitary in civilian dress wearing the insignia of the Polish orders of St. Stanislaus and the White Eagle. "Oil on its original canvas, marked on the back "Niedermann Pinxit W 1793". (restored, tightened). Gilded frame. 52 x 43 cm. A.B.E. Related work: Portrait of Karola WEGLINSKIE also painted in 1793 and kept at the National Museum in Warsaw. History: Our man wearing a green Kontusz and a white zupan, could have come from Volhynia. He wears a traditional Polish haircut. It could be a commemorative portrait of King John III Sobieski, who died a century earlier ( in 1696), which bears a strong resemblance to our subject. Biography: Johann Niedermann (1759-1833) was a German painter of portraits and history. From 1780 onwards, Niedermann studied in Graudenz, where he was influenced by the works of Daniel Chodowiecki. From 1790 to 1794, he was a student of Josef Mathias Grassi and an independent painter in Warsaw. After the defeat of the Kosciuszko insurrection (of which our subject is probably one of the members), Niedermann emigrated to Vienna in 1794, where he worked as a portrait painter and history painter. From 1816 to 1824, he exhibited his works at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna.