All About Anna Bilinska
The 19th-century Polish realist painter is considered the first Polish woman artist who achieved international recognition. In this article, we will learn about Bilinska’s art and life, and how she is recognised today.
This article is also available in video format on our YouTube channel here.
Early Life
Bilinska was born in 1854 in Zlatopil, which at the time was a frontier town of the Russian Empire, and is today part of Ukraine. Her father was Polish, and Bilinska would later joke that she had “a Cossack’s temperament, but a Polish heart”. She spent most of her childhood in Zlatopil, and then her family moved to central Russia where she received her first art training. In 1875 (aged 21 years old) Bilinska moved to Warsaw. Her parents wanted her to pursue a career as a pianist, an activity which was seen as acceptable for a woman of her class and time. But she chose to become a painter, a far less socially acceptable career option. Around 1877, Bilinska started to exhibit her work publicly and selling her work, using the money to hire her own studio. She would later explain:“I must be independent, for I would break the obligations on me. I believe in my abilities and have a love for this work. Were I to encounter obstacles, I would despise them. And what then? Now I have liberty, I am as happy as nobody else…”
In the early 1880s, Bilinska travelled to Munich, Salzburg, Vienna and northern Italy with her close friend, Klementyna Krassowska, where she was able to visit prestigious museums and galleries. On these travels she also met the painter Wojciech Grabowski, with whom she fell in love and would have a secret engagement.
Paris and the Academie Julian
In 1882, Bilinska settled in Paris, where she lived in a tiny apartment and studied with a group of women artists at the Academie Julian (where she would also later be a teacher). It was one of the few art schools in Europe which was open to female students in the nineteenth century. It was unusual in that it used the same teaching methods (and the same teachers) as the prestigious Ecole des Beaux-Arts for male artists, which allowed Bilinska and her peers to develop an excellent command of painting techniques - and to have access to life models (including male ones - although the models had to cover their genitals). Two notable artists included in this group were Russian artist Marie Bashkirtseff and English artist Emmeline Deane. The latter made a remarkable portrait of Bilinska wearing mourning clothes in 1884, painted just after Bilinska’s father had died. At the time, it was highly unusual for women artists to make (and exhibit) formal portraits of other women artists. Today, the painting is one of the most celebrated works in the Victoria Art Gallery in Bath. We highly recommend watching the video by the gallery, in which museum assistant Jim Riseley takes a closer look at the painting.
Anna Bilinska by Emmeline Deane, 1884 (Image: Wikipedia)
Three paintings by Bilinska in the 1880s
A Black Woman, 1884
The exoticism of the sitter (indicated by her gold hoop earrings and necklace, yellow head scarf, exposed breast and Japanese fan) is a typical trait of late 19th-century European artistic depictions of Black women. It was probably made as part of the art school’s programme, which involved making oil studies of character ‘types’ - for this purpose, Black female models were often portrayed in exotic costumes. The model is seen from below, possibly indicating the sitter was a life model on a stage, with an uncomfortable expression on her face - she seems self-conscious or embarrassed. The painting was stolen from the National Museum of Warsaw in World War II and remained missing until 2011 in auction, when it was returned to the museum.
At The Seashore
This painting was made in 1886, at a very difficult period in the artist’s life - she had a nervous breakdown following the death of both her father and of a close friend, Klementyna Krassowska. A few months later, her fiance also died. Amidst profound grief and depression, Bilinska’s friend, the painter Maria Gażycz, took her to Pourville in Normandy for several months. This painting was made there, and shows a mother and her child, seen from behind, on a grey pebbly beach by the English Channel. The space between the mother and child - separated by the expanse of sea - has been interpreted as a sign of mourning after the loss of a child. The grey colour palette and gloominess of the scene creates a strong sense of melancholy.
Self-Portrait with Apron and Brushes
This self-portrait from 1887 was Bilinska’s first international success. Her pose in front of a model’s backdrop seems to state that she is her own model - a new self-portrait pose at the time. Her direct gaze and confident pose capture her desire for independence.
Early death and bilinska’s legacy
Bilinska lived in France until 1892 when she married and returned to Warsaw with her husband. She wanted to open an art school for women in Warsaw, inspired by the Academie Julien in Paris, but tragically she died of heart disease in 1893, at the age of only 36. Her career still inspired the next wave of Polish female painters, such as Olga Boznanska, to seek out an education in Paris.
Partly because of her early death and short career, and also in large part because of the historical prejudices against women, Bilinska’s work is not well known, not even in Poland. Fortunately, this is starting to change. In 2021, the National Museum in Warsaw held a major exhibition of her work. The National Museum has said: “Her works were presented at the most important European exhibitions and appreciated by critics from many countries.” In the same year, a specialist mural company collaborated with the Academy of Fine Arts to create a commemorative mural in Warsaw, a re-interpretation of Bilinska’s self-portrait.
(Written by Esme Garlake on behalf of Athena Art Foundation, February 2023)