1856 -1879 · Drohobych, Vienna, Krakow, Munich and Rome

Jewish memory, historical drama and the quest for identity make Maurycy Gottlieb a dazzling figure in 19th century Polish painting.

Maurycy Gottlieb was born in 1856 in Drohobych, into a wealthy Jewish family open to the ideas of Haskala. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna from 1871 to 1873 and discovered the historical work of Jan Matejko during the Universal Exhibition. In 1874, he became his student at the Krakow School of Fine Arts. Faced with the anti-Semitism of certain comrades, he continued his training in Vienna then in Munich, traveled to Pest, Lviv and Drohobych, and stayed for a year in Rome where he shared a workshop with Henryk Siemiradzki. This trajectory nourishes a work devoted to Polish and Jewish identities, biblical stories, Shakespeare and history. Jews praying at the synagogue on Yom Day Yom Kippur is his most iconic image. In the dense space of the sanctuary, Gottlieb depicts himself at three ages of his life - child, adolescent and young man - making collective prayer a meditation on time, memory and belonging. Christ preaching in Capernaum seeks a dialogue between Jewish tradition and Christianity, while Shylock and Jessica transpose the family and cultural tension of the Merchant of Venice. The Portrait of Laura Rosenfeld reveals a more intimate approach, attentive to the gaze and dignity of the model. Returning to Krakow in early 1879, Gottlieb died the following summer, at just twenty-three years old. Despite this brief career, he opened a path decisive for modern Jewish art. The "Maurycy Gottlieb" selection notably compares Jews praying at the synagogue on Yom Kippur and Christ preaching in Capernaum. Its reading favors the atmosphere.

Maurycy Gottlieb transforms history into an interior mirror: the synagogue, Shakespeare or the Gospel become the places of an identity sought between several worlds.