Jan Ciągliński

Jan Ciągliński was a Polish painter known for pioneering Russian Impressionism. Born into a noble family, he studied medicine at the University of Warsaw while taking drawing lessons with Wojciech Gerson. From 1879 to 1885, he studied at the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, where he later settled after receiving a lucrative commission.

Ciągliński briefly studied in Paris in 1894 and became a lecturer at the "Society for the Encouragement of the Arts." He was a founding member of Mir iskusstva and taught at the Imperial Academy, eventually becoming a professor in 1911. His students included notable painters such as Yury Annenkov and Ivan Bilibin.

Known for his passionate, fast-paced working style, Ciągliński created portraits, landscapes, and Orientalist works from his travels in North Africa and the Middle East.