André Jerzy Mniszech (wischnowitz, 1823 - Paris, 1905) Still Life With Chinese Vase.

André Jerzy MNISZECH 1823-1905 still life with Chinese vase, oil on panel signed lower center and signed lower left MM1890, wood and stucco frame 112.5x86cm Personal collection of the artist who died in 1905, passed on to his wife Anne-Charlotte MARRIER de LAGATINERIE (1840 - 1910), then by descent and marriage Brochant de Villiers collection. A renowned portrait painter, Mniszech was also a painter of still lifes. Some of them show, from the 1870s, his interest in Asian art, as evidenced by the Composition with ginger pot dated 1876, sold in Paris on June 26, 2024 (sold for €18,000). This taste culminated at the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1878, where the painter was fascinated by the extraordinary richness of the Japanese pavilion, considered one of the most spectacular. This display of works of art and testimonies of Japanese civilization would inspire the superb portraits of actors by Manzaï made in large format, as well as a certain number of still lifes with Japanese or Chinese objects. Among them, the Still Life with Chinese Vase, dated 1890, is a very fine example. It shows the great pictorial quality of this series with its elaborate layout and sought-after color work: the deep red vase, placed in close-up in the center of the composition, is presented as a work of art, alone, magnified by the imposing drapery in the background, in a complementary blue-green. The painting shows Mniszech's love for Far Eastern objects and his desire to showcase them through theatrical presentation and meticulous, refined technique.