The Artist and the City: Józef Chełmoński’s Parisian Addresses and Their Significance

Wojciech Głowacki’s paper analyses the life of Józef Chełmoński in Paris (1876–1888), focusing on the places where he lived and worked. Through research conducted in the Special Collections of the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Parisian archives of the Musée d’Orsay and the library of the Institut national d’histoire de l’art, as well as the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles, the author reconstructs the geographical and social context of the painter’s work. Methods employed include the analysis of archival sources, Salon catalogues, memoirs and correspondence. Chełmoński moved residences several times. The choice of locations for his homes reflected an initial desire to signal success and later attempts to adapt to changing circumstances. In his early years, he lived and worked at 11 boulevard de Clichy, 54 avenue Bosquet, 1 avenue Duquesne and 17 avenue de la Motte-Picquet. His final Parisian addresses were 110 boulevard Malesherbes and 4 place de Wagram. The artist’s studios were located at 5 rue Bizet, 11 impasse du Maine and 41 rue Verniquet. The author challenges the myth of patriotic motivations behind Chełmoński’s return to Poland, instead pointing to the material and social factors behind this decision. Drawing on a wealth of sources, the paper reconstructs Chełmoński’s relocations in Paris, identifies their causes and highlights the broader context of a Polish artist operating within the art market of the time. This approach offers a deeper understanding of the painter’s choices regarding his work, ambitions and self-promotion within the international artistic environment of late nineteenth-century Paris.