HEINRIK HECTOR SIEMERADZKI

Heinrik Hector Siemeradzki was born in 1843 to a Polish officer family, whose father later became an Imperial Russian Army general. The family name originates from the village of Siemiradz.

Heinrik Hector studied painting at Kharkiv Gymnasium under D.I. Besperchy, a former student of Karl Briullov. In 1864, Heinrik moved to Saint Petersburg to study painting for four years at the Imperial Academy of Arts and received a gold medal upon his graduation in 1870. After the Imperial Academy of Arts, Heinrik Hector Siemeradzki continued his studies under Karl von Piloty in Munich and in 1872 he moved to Rome to work on his creative career.

Heinrik Hector Siemeradzki took an inspiration from the ancient Greek-Roman culture and painted numerous biblical and historical scenes, landscapes, and portraits.

In 1873 Heinrik Hector Siemeradzki received the title of Academician of the Imperial Academy of Arts. In 1878 he received the French National Order of the Legion of Honour and a gold medal at the Paris World's Fair. In 1876–1879 Siemiradzki worked on frescoes for the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (Moscow) among his other large-scale projects. Siemiradzki's monumental paintings owned and exhibited by many national galleries of Europe such as the national museums of Poland, Russia, and Ukraine; as well as at the Sukiennice Museum, the National Museum, Poznań, Lviv National Art Gallery, Tretyakov Gallery, and others.