Maksymilian Fajans - Biography

Maksymilian Fajans (Sieradz, 1827–90, Warsaw) was a Jewish–Polish artist, lithographer and photographer.

Life

Fajans studied at Warsaw's School of Fine Arts (Szkoła Sztuk Pięknych) in 1844–49, and in 1850–53 in Paris, where he was a pupil of the Dutch–French painter Ary Scheffer.

Fajans established one of the first photography studios in Warsaw. In 1851–63 he published 14 folios of Wizerunki polskie (Polish Images) after his own drawings, and in 1851–61, 24 folios of Wzory sztuki średniowiecznej (Images of Medieval Art) after drawings by L. Łepkowski, B. Podczaszyński and others.

In chromolithography he published Kwiaty i poezje (Flowers and Poems, 1858, after his own drawings), illustrations for albums and books (Karola Gustawa trofea...—Carl Gustav's Trophies...—by E. Tyszkiewicz, 1856; Album widoków Polski—Album of Polish Views—by N. Orda, 1875–83). He also collaborated with the publisher, Samuel Orgelbrand. In addition, he worked in utilitarian graphics (calendars, diplomas).

Portraits

Fajans's portraits of notable contemporaries included:

• Aleksander Fredro
• Andrzej Artur Zamoyski
• Anna Nakwaska
• Antoni Edward Odyniec
• August Cieszkowski
• Antoni Melchior Fijałkowski
• Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński
• January Suchodolski
• Jerzy Samuel Bandtkie
• Józef Bohdan Zaleski
• Józef Elsner
• Karol Libelt
• Karol Lipiński
• Kazimierz Wójcicki
• Lucjan Siemieński
• Stanisław Wodzicki
• Teodor Narbutt
• Józef Kremer

Recognition

Fajans won prizes at the International Photographic Exhibition organized in 1865 in Berlin and, in 1873, at the Vienna Exhibition.

See also

• List of Poles

External links

• Portraits drawn by Fajans (cyfrowe)
• A Hunting Certificate from the Workshop of Maksymilian Fajans at the Wilanów Palace Museum