Oil on canvas, signed with a faint monogram “E.B.” on the lower left, inscribed on the reverse with “K.E. Boratyński 27 J'Enfer Paris.”
Dimensions with frame: 47x40 cm (41x33 cm)
Emil Boratyński (1806 or 1810–1876, Paris) was the pseudonym used by Emil Jurkiewicz or Emil Edmund Korczak Boratyński. He was a colorful character and a hoaxer who was active in exile following the November Uprising. Boratyński hailed from the Kraków area and studied painting at the School of Fine Arts under Józef Brodowski. In the 1830s, he began exhibiting under a pseudonym. Two paintings exhibited under this name were recorded at the Royal Academy in Britain. He was a bon vivant who claimed to be an aristocrat and used the Korczak coat of arms. He divided his lavish lifestyle among the major European cities: London, Paris, and Rome. Finally, in 1842, he settled in Florence, where he established a painting studio and began teaching at the Academy. He was acquainted with prominent figures of the Polish émigré community, including poets, artists, and aristocrats. Among them were Adam Mickiewicz and Cyprian Kamil Norwid. He painted portraits of people associated with the Lambert Hotel circle. The painter also maintained ties with his homeland, exhibiting at least three times at the Society of Friends of Fine Arts in Kraków. From 1850 to 1856, he lived in Warsaw. He exhibited, among other places, at the 1894 exhibition in Lviv. His works are held at the National Museum in Warsaw and in private collections across Europe.
