Mehoffer
ul. Krupnicza 26, 31-123 Kraków
The low house with a garden at Krupnicza Street was the place of life and work of Józef Mehoffer (1869–1946), a painter, graphic artist and designer, a graduate and professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. The artist’s life companion and muse was Jadwiga Mehofferowa, née Radzim-Janakowska (1871–1956), a painter and art collector, the mother of their son Zbigniew (1900–1985).
The layout of the gallery refers to the decor of the apartments of the Mehoffer family. In addition to works of art, furniture, artistic crafts, photographs and family memorabilia were collected in the interiors. The layout of the rooms corresponds to their organization during the lifetime of the artist and his wife: on the ground floor, representative rooms such as the salon and dining room were arranged, while on the upper floor – the residents’ rooms and a private “Japanese” boudoir, in which art from the Far East, collected by Jadwiga Janakowska since her time in Paris in the 1890s, is displayed.
Mehoffer is a peer of Stanisław Wyspiański and a student of Jan Matejko. Already in his student years, he worked in large-scale spaces, on stained glass and polychromes for the interiors of St. Mary’s Basilica at the Main Market Square, renovated in 1890–1892. These experiences resulted in participation and winning in the international competition for stained glass in the Cathedral of St Nicholas in Fribourg, Switzerland. As part of this commission, between 1895-1919, the artist made stained glass designs for all windows of the cathedral. The National Museum in Kraków cares for the cartoons of these stained glass windows, as well as holds numerous sketches and studies of them in its collection – some of which are displayed in the dining room of the artist’s former home.
The exhibition presents a selection of works by Józef and Jadwiga Mehoffer. Particularly noteworthy are the Red Umbrella [„Czerwona parasolka”] from 1917, the stained glass window Vita Somnium Breve based on the design from 1904 or the Portrait of Wife with Pegasus in the Background [„Portret żony na tle pegaza”] (1913) by Józef Mehoffer, as well as Jadwiga’s paintings: Portrait of a Girl in a Red Dress [„Portret dziewczynki w czerwonej sukience”] (1905–1907) and Girl with a Candle [„Dziewczynka ze świecą”] (1907).
The garden is worth noting, arranged based on archival photographs and paintings by Józef, and referencing the appearance of two gardens at the artist’s residences: in Krakow and at the manor in Jankówka near Wieliczka, where the Mehoffer family lived from 1907 to 1917. The garden is an extension of the exhibition and at the same time one of the most beautiful green and secluded places in Krakow where you can drink coffee.
Mehoffer
ul. Krupnicza 26, 31-123 Kraków