ALEXANDER LESSER (1814 - 1884), THE LAST OF THE GRODNO

woodcut, paper, 16 x 21 cm

woodcut, paper, 16 x 21 cm in light passe - partout, signed on panel p.d. "A.Lesser rys."

Aleksander Lesser (born May 13, 1814 in Warsaw, died March 13, 1884 in Krakow) - Polish painter and art critic of Jewish descent, specializing in paintings of historical and contemporary subjects, member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences in Krakow, co-founder of the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts.He was born as one of twelve children of merchant Lesser (1791-1870) and Rosa Loewenstein (1790-1840). He began studying drawing at the Warsaw Lyceum under Alexander Kokular. He studied painting in 1830-1831 at the Department of Fine Arts at the University of Warsaw under Antoni Brodowski. After the University was closed after the fall of the November Uprising, he studied in Dresden from 1832 to 1835 at the Academy of Fine Arts under Moritz Retzsch and Karl Christian Vogel von Vogelstein. From July 8, 1835 to 1846, he studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Munich under Peter Cornelius, Heinrich Hess and Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld.He became one of the creators of a variety of Polish history painting, the so-called "archaeological trend" (aimed at depicting the entire history of Poland), which existed even before the artistic activity of Jan Matejko.In his religious life, he showed no interest in Judaism, although he did not completely break ties with it. Mostly, he did not look for painting motifs in the history of ancient Israel (with the exception of one painted picture: David thanking God for the victory over Goliath). He also showed no particular interest in the life of the Jewish community in Poland or in contacts with Israeli culture.

He was one of the authors of the entries and illustrations for Orgelbrand's Universal Encyclopedia of 1859-1868, and his name is listed in Volume I of 1859 as a contributor to the contents of that encyclopedia.